NSFAS claims of “adequate funding for missing middle” unsubstantiated
12 April 2016
At a conference held in Johannesburg on Monday, Mr Sizwe Nxasana, NSFAS Chairperson, said that there are adequate funds to help the “missing middle” students (those whose parents are employed but cannot afford higher education) and to help support poor students at universities.
We assume he means that there will, once his plans are complete, be sufficient funds. He cannot claim that they exist at present. In fact, even his claims that such funds will be found in future have yet to be clarified.
We understand that Mr Nxasana’s intentions are beyond reproach, and appreciate that NSFAS has taken a welcome step in the right direction by seeking to ensure that all deserving students have the necessary resources to attend university. But Mr Nxasana exaggerates. Last week, for example, government said in answer to a Parliamentary question, that it did not even know how many students there actually were in the missing middle or what their financial needs were! Furthermore, when NSFAS was asked in a portfolio committee last week to expand on the plans to find additional funds, they could not answer.
The Department’s annual performance plan (pages 51 and 58) indicates that it is aiming to support only 405 000 students in the 2019/2020 financial year. This is the same number of students NSFAS plans to support this year and that it planned to support last year. What this means is that the Department is expecting no growth in the number of supported students for at least the next four financial years.
As the missing middle is not currently supported by NSFAS, it is bewildering how Mr Nxasana can claim that there is or will be adequate funding for this group, given that government is not expanding its NSFAS coverage for at least the next four years.
We therefore call on Minister Nzimande and Mr Nxasana to clarify how the extent of the “missing middle” will be determined, and well as to give us precise details as to how exactly it will be funded.
The DA is committed to ensuring that government provides the requisite funding for all deserving students who cannot afford university fees. However, throwing money at the problem is not a solution. These funds need to be allocated on the basis of established needs and numbers of students.
Issued by Belinda Bozzoli, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training, 12 April 2016
