Question NW30 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
28 February 2024 - NW30
Chirwa, Ms NN to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
(1)What (a) is the status of students who were rejected by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and (b) were the reasons for rejection; (2) what is the total number of (a) appeals that have been lodged by students that were rejected by NSFAS for the 2024 academic year, (b) the specified lodged appeals that were resolved and (c) the resolved appeals that resulted in NSFAS agreeing to pay for the specified academic year?
Reply:
1. (a) 131 528 applications have been rejected for the 2024 academic year. Their status remains at rejected.
(b) The applications were rejected due to not meeting either the financial or academic eligibility criteria.
2. (a) NSFAS has received 1495 appeals to date.
(b) NSFAS has not started working on the appeals yet. NSFAS applications closed on 15 February 2024. The team has been working on expediting the processing of applications.
(c) No appeals have been resolved yet.