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News24 reports that Solidarity has written to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) warning it to stop its alleged non-payment of study fees to tertiary institutions.
According to the trade union, several students were recently informed by their respective tertiary institutions that NSFAS "failed to pay their study fees". "Students depend on bursary funds to study and to complete their studies. To be informed out of the blue that one's study fees have not been paid, comes as a huge shock, especially for a student who, as it is, cannot afford to carry this type of cost on his or her own," Solidarity's Paul Maritz said in a statement last week. As a result, Solidarity sent a letter insisting that NSFAS should resume all its obligations immediately and undertake to meet its contractual and statutory obligations as set out in bursary agreements. "These students have all applied successfully for the bursaries, but NSFAS simply stopped paying without giving any reason. Solidarity cannot allow such failure by NSFAS to be merely accepted. When an agreement is entered into, both parties must abide by it. Solidarity will therefore not hesitate to take further legal action should NSFAS not comply with these demands," Solidarity head of labour law services Anton van der Bijl indicated. NSFAS administrator Dr Randall Carolissen responded by saying a legal office was dealing with the matter and there would be no further comment on the issue. The scheme claimed, however, that it had not failed to make payments to students and institutions. Meanwhile, the financial aid scheme was also a source of concern for the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology due to delays in the finalisation of the NSFAS audit by the Auditor-General of SA (AGSA).
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Canny Maphanga at News24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page