Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande on Wednesday congratulated the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for receiving more than 493 904 applications before the November 30 deadline.
Nzimande said the number of applications received to date has almost doubled the number received in previous cycles during the same timeline. He said NSFAS had only received over 287 769 applications by this time for the 2020 applications.
“Female applicants account for 68% (338 324) of the total, while male applicants only account for 32% (155 543).
“This trend has been continuing in this trajectory for the past three years,” Nzimande said.
He said there has been major improvements from provinces which were extremely low in the past two years with the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State and North West doubling their previous year’s statistics.
“These latest statistics are encouraging and give an indication that NSFAS’s efforts in providing easy access through partnerships is yielding positive results,” said Nzimande.
The minister said KwaZulu-Natal led with the highest number applications accounting at 26%, followed by Gauteng at 21% and Limpopo with 17%.
“We remain highly grateful to the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Department of Basic Education for their continuous support and partnership.
“NYDA centres and Teacher’s Centres across the country will remain operational NSFAS application centres throughout the application cycle. We would like to encourage applicants to use these centres,” Nzimande said
Applicants have until November 30, applications via the NSFAS website www.nsfas.org.za/content/outreachapp using mobile device, tablet or computers.
Meanwhile, Nzimande has welcomed the arrest of five suspects in connection with the killing of Coastal TVET College student Smanga Zulu.
“I congratulate SAPS for swiftly arresting these suspects and urge them to work tirelessly to also arrest the assailants who shot and killed Lindinkosi Mazibuko, the head of Infrastructure at the same TVET College, who I visited his family on November 1,” Nzimande said.
He also said he was grateful to the members of the community for cooperating with the police during their investigation.
On Wednesday last week, Zulu and two other students from Coastal TVET College’s uMbumbulu campus were shot at by an unknown assailant.
They were rushed to KwaMakhutha clinic where Zulu died. The other two students are recuperating well in hospital. Nzimande wished the two students who were still in hospital a speedy recovery.
In other news – Norma Mngoma launches her very own foundation
2020 hasn’t been an easy year for Norma Mngoma. The ex-wife to minister Malusi Gigaba’s personal life has come under much attention from the public following her messy divorce. The single parent has been picking up the pieces and rediscovering who she really is and what makes her come alive. This morning she announced that she’s launching her own foundation – Norma Mngoma Foundation. Learn more
Source: IOL
