NSFAS says student accommodation spend to exceed R18bln this year

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) says based on their system’s current rates and caps, it projects that more than R18 billion will be spent on accommodation, by the end of the year.

In the past three years, NSFAS has reported a growth of almost R2 billion in student funding accommodation, year on year.

The scheme says it also notes the concern around its capping system.

The Scheme’s Chief Financial Officer Waseem Carrim says it is unfortunate that the gap created by the allowance and the actual price of accommodation falls on students.

He says they do not have the rights or power to prescribe rates charged by accommodation providers.

“If accommodation providers charge more than the accommodation allowance, that is of no concern to NSFAS.

NSFAS will simply not pay more towards the accommodation than the accommodation allowance that it offers to its students.

Where, of course, this creates quite a bit of challenge is that those costs are now being passed down to the students,” says Carrim.

This while, Universities South Africa CEO Dr Phethiwe Matutu accused the scheme of failing to live up to its promises.

“It is important that at a national level, we come to an agreement that promises cannot be carried out.

Because to say that NSFAS has got the rights now to say the maximum that they can pay, that maximum is not the full cost.

And that full cost is what they promised to pay.

So that shortfall goes to student debt and also goes to escalating the unsustainability of universities,” says Matutu.

Public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges accommodation crisis was also laid bare, as the minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela revealed a shortfall of more than 76 000 bed capacity for TVET colleges against nearly 10 000 available beds for institution owned residences.