BL Premium reports that undergraduate teaching and nursing programmes will still be funded by the government’s bursary scheme for disadvantaged students, the fund’s CEO said on Tuesday.

In a circular sent out to universities recently, Andile Nongogo, CEO of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), wrote that the list of funded qualifications was being reviewed before the start of the 2021 academic year. The circular, which caused confusion in higher education circles, suggested that for first-time entrants the scheme would not fund a range of qualifications, including Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Bachelor of Nursing Science (BCur) degrees. Nongogo advised on Tuesday it was postgraduate programmes that were being defunded from 2021, while first degrees would be funded. “Students who are already enrolling in these legacy qualifications may continue and complete their qualifications as their funding will not be affected,” he stated. “Universities are required to register first-time entrance students on the new qualifications aligned to the Higher Education Qualification Sub Framework as from the 2020 academic year,” Nongogo advised. Funding will thus be diverted from the postgraduate programmes in education and nursing to focus only on undergraduate studies in those fields, he indicated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

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