Question NW1953 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
03 September 2021 - NW1953
Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
(a) What has he found to be the reason behind the delays in issuing laptops to all National Student Financial Aid Scheme students and (b) how are such students without laptops expected to further their studies with the commencement of online learning?
Reply:
NSFAS reported that the entity had pre-ordered the first batch of 170 000 laptops for NSFAS funded university and TVET college students in February and March 2021. The timeline for deliverywasdelayedbyaworldwideshortageofcomponentstobuildlaptops. Itisprojected that approximately 160 000 of these devices will be for TVET colleges, whereas the balance is earmarkedfor universities.NSFAS hasprovidedan allocationlistof 61808studentsto the serviceprovider,i.e. 59962TVETcollegestudentsand1846universitystudents.Todate
49 100laptopshavebeendeliveredand theremainderwillbedeliveredbythe endofAugust2021.
It should be noted that although the numbers of university students appear low, there are differentschemes in place across theuniversity system tosupport students, and particularly NSFAS students to obtain devices to support learning. Where universities do not have schemes in place, NSFAS qualifying students receive an annual learning material allowance directly, which they are able to utilise to purchase a device.