Cabinet has lent its support to the appointment of Dr Randall Carolissen as the administrator of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane on Thursday said at its meeting on Wednesday, Cabinet was briefed by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor, on the challenges facing NSFAS.
Mokonyane said the appointment of Carolissen would help to stabilise and decisively address the challenges faced by NSFAS in the disbursement of funds to deserving students.
Carolissen’s appointment effectively dissolves the current NSFAS Board.
Cabinet said Carolissen, together with NSFAS management, will work towards dealing decisively with backlogs and other challenges facing the entity so that student funding is administered optimally for 2019 and that all outstanding issues for 2017 and 2018 are resolved.
In June this year, NSFAS called on funded students, who wish to update or change their contact details, to do so online.
NSFAS has added another method of updating contact details by introducing the functionality online.
Students, who wish to update or change their contact details, can do it online through the Mynsfas portal on the scheme’s website.
NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo at the time said the move came after NSFAS had received concerns from students who were unable to sign their bursary agreements as a result of their details not being updated on the system, either due to lost handsets or changed numbers.
This challenge had a great impact on the signing of the NSFAS Bursary Agreement process.
Mamabolo said the initiative forms part of the long-term solutions to mitigate the challenge.
“NSFAS believes that this new development is a milestone for the organisation, as it cements our strategy of being student-centred and utilising modern technology to simplify the lives of students,” he said.
Students who are unable to change their details online were told that they could use the manual process by emailing a certified copy of their green barcoded ID or smart card, and a completed affidavit specifying that they have changed their cell phone number, with the new and old number listed to uds@nsfas.org.za. – SAnews.gov.za
