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A NSFAS team possessing various administrative expertise will descend upon WSU this September to conduct a deep-dive exercise aimed at alleviating different aspects of the university’s NSFAS-related challenges.
The commitment, borne out of a visit on Thursday 2 September initiated by NSFAS, was made by the funding entity’s CEO Andile Nongogo following a three-part engagement, mediated by the South African Union of Students, with the university’s executive management and the ISRC regarding numeours NSFAS-related administrative issues that continue to plague the university and its students.
A plethora of challenges currently facing the university were highlighted by both university management and the student leadership, and included student appeals, funding reversals, the registration process and its guidelines, the non-funding of PGCE, historical debt, issuance of certificates, funding top-ups, unfunded advanced diploma courses as well as issuance of laptops and related guidelines.
“There are clear and present administrative and stakeholder relations issues that we as NSFAS together with the university need to fundamentally deal with. The piece-meal approach of having meetings here and there is clearly not working and so we need a more effective solution such as bringing a team to the University. Over and above that, should there be resolution that need to be taken at the conclusion of the visit, I will avail myself to come and have a meeting with the VC where we take certain resolutions,” said Nongogo.
Though amenable to the CEO’s commitment, the ISRC strongly expressed their frustration and dissatisfaction with certain issues that they demanded be dealt with immediately by both the university and NSFAS.
Two of those issues included inconsistencies in provision of and the reversal of meal allowances to students whose accounts were severely debited due to, in some cases, their double-dipping, as well as the reversal of denying funding to students based on the N+2 rule under which some of those students were erroneously categorized.
“There are issues that are currently burning that cannot wait for the NSFAS visit that we need to be honest and open about and need immediate resolutions because they’re placing our students under severe and unwarranted pressure. The issue of deducting student accounts to where they can’t even afford basic necessities is something we will fight tooth and nail against,” said ISRC president Phelo Matentamo.
The meeting resolved to follow up immediately with the two challenges in a bid to hastily find and implement appropriate solutions.
Setting the tone in her introductory remarks during the first session between the NSFAS the institution’s executive management, WSU VC and Principal Prof Rushiella Songca highlighted fundamental challenges relating to socialization, politics, institutional culture and geographical location that continue to face the university.
“It’s important to note that our challenges as institutions of higher learning are different and these are historical, political and also geographical and I think that when we make student funding policy decisions we must take into consideration that we grapple with different issues in the different institutions therefore the interventions that we might want to put in place should be reflective of those unique circumstances,” said Prof Songca.
Following incidents of fatal violence amongst students that have rocked the university in recent days, Prof Songca aptly underlined the importance of a community-based effort in dealing with the psychosocial challenges that continue to breed a toxic and unhealthy environment for students.
By Thando Cezula
