Question NW999 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

Reply:

1. (a) A detailed template was sent to all institutions to gain an understanding of the current levels of student debt and the categories of students that carry debt, including NSFAS students. This information was due on 26 March 2021. It should be noted that eligible NSFAS qualifying continuing and returning students with debt are allowed to register and will receive their allowances in the first week of April 2021, dependent on academic results and registration data received from institutions.  No eligible NSFAS applicants and NSFAS returning students in TVET colleges are required to pay registration fees. The first payment of allowances for 2021 was made from 05 March 2021, upon receipt of registration data, for colleges that disburse allowances to students. However, in respect of the rest of the institutions, payments were made on 19 March 2021 upon receipt of their registration data.

(b)   This information will be available from NSFAS on 31 March 2021 as NSFAS is still awaiting academic results from some institutions to conclude 2021 funding decisions for returning and continuing qualifying NSFAS students. Funding for NSFAS returning students is dependent on academic progression. The Department has established that about 10% of TVET college student debt is recoverable and 90% is unrecoverable. However, in an effort to avert exclusion of students due to an inability to afford fees, TVET colleges writes off 90% of the student debt which is not recoverable.   

2. (a) The table below reflects the 2020 Ministerial approved enrolment planning targets for First Time Entering Undergraduates (FTEN) and total undergraduate enrolments.

 

TVET College	Continuing Student	New Applicant	Total
Boland	2 138	2 729	4 867
Buffalo City	1 602	2 076	3 678
Capricorn	4 441	4 514	8 955
Central Johannesburg	1 780	3 329	5 109
Coastal KZN	3 425	5 392	8 817
College of Cape Town	2 348	2 821	5 169
Eastcape Midlands	1 834	2 700	4 534
Ehlanzeni	2 180	3 694	5 874
Ekurhuleni East	2 061	4 966	7 027
Ekurhuleni West	4 209	5 320	9 529
Elangeni	3 261	3 311	6 572
Esayidi	3 163	3 306	6 469
False Bay	1 695	1 951	3 646
Flavius Mareka	1 184	2 937	4 121
Gert Sibande	3 474	4 271	7 745
Goldfields	872	1 843	2 715
Ikhala	1 750	2 096	3 846
Ingwe	2 375	2 558	4 933
King Hintsa	943	1 429	2 372
King Sabata Dalindyebo	2 363	3 043	5 406
Lephalale	1 077	1 287	2 364
Letaba	1 846	1 860	3 706
Lovedale	1 385	1 477	2 862
Majuba	5 397	5 773	11 170
Maluti	2 158	3 303	5 461
Mnambithi	1 335	1 805	3 140
Mopani South East	2 226	2 936	5 162
Motheo	1 770	5 175	6 945
Mthashana	1 706	1 783	3 489
Nkangala	3 401	3 362	6 763
Northern Cape Rural	688	2 119	2 807
Northern Cape Urban	1 405	2 288	3 693
Northlink	4 129	4 298	8 427
Orbit	2 222	2 307	4 529
Port Elizabeth	1 631	2 412	4 043
Sedibeng	3 480	4 759	8 239
Sekhukhune	1 523	2 197	3 720
South Cape	1 417	2 877	4 294
South West Gauteng	4 066	5 330	9 396
Taletso	1 094	2 300	3 394
Thekwini	1 845	2 592	4 437
Tshwane North	2 920	4 230	7 150
Tshwane South	2 131	3 177	5 308
Umfolozi	3 034	3 606	6 640
Umgungundlovu	1 883	2 226	4 109
Vhembe	5 150	6 167	11 317
Vuselela	1 524	2 586	4 110
Waterberg	1 598	1 836	3 434
West Coast	1 625	3 421	5 046
Western	2 702	3 447	6 149
Total	115 466	157 222	272 688

 

(b) It should be noted that the Department has only received preliminary data from universities on their 2020 enrolments and this is therefore subject to change. There may have been institutions that have over-enrolled slightly on their enrolment plans and the impact on NSFAS is not yet known.  More reliable data on enrolments will be received from universities at the end of April 2021. Once they have identified all their graduates, the Department will receive the final audited data at the end of July 2021. Preliminary data indicates that UNISA is the only institution that has exceeded its FTEN 2020 enrolment plan target. The approved enrolment target for FTEN students for UNISA was 57 703. According to UNISA’s first submission of HEMIS data, the University has enrolled 77 840 FTEN students. According to data received from NSFAS on 23 March 2021, the entity has funded 74 427 FTEN students in 2020. 

(3) The Commission completed its report and handed it to the former President on 31 August 2017. Government considered the report through an Inter-Ministerial Task Team and agreed with many of the recommendations, some of which are either currently being planned or implemented. Four recommendations made by the Commission were not accepted:

- Community Education and Training only concerns itself with adult basic education;

- A universal model of Income Contingent Deferred Loans underwritten by government;

- Funding (loans) should be extended to cover students studying at private higher education institutions; and

- University students should not pay application fees nor registration fees.

(4) Government’s policy remains the provision of fully subsidised free higher education and training for poor and working-class South Africans. Cabinet has requested an urgent review of government policy on student financial aid, which must be completed within the next three months. The focus will be on sustainable modelling of NSFAS as well as to explore a different public-private sector mechanism to enable better support for the “missing middle” income bracket.