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Clarification of urgent notice regarding accredited and non-accredited accommodation

06 February 2020 | Story Lacea Loader

During meetings between the management of the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Bloemfontein Campus Student Representative Council (CSRC) the week of 27 January 2020, an agreement regarding accredited and non-accredited accommodation was reached. Although it has been communicated to students on the university’s campuses earlier this week, it is important to clarify the agreement:

• For 2020, students on the three campuses of the UFS who receive funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and who live in accredited and non-accredited accommodation, will receive the monthly accommodation allowance that will be paid directly into the student’s bank account. Please note that the matter of the lease agreement is between the student and the service provider and the UFS does not take responsibility for payments to any supplier. The payments will only be made once funds are received from NSFAS.

• Registered NSFAS beneficiaries must log in on Self Service and apply online for the private accommodation allowance. The application process requires that the lease agreement should be uploaded on the Self-Service portal. This lease agreement must be signed by both the student and the service provider.

• Approved private accommodation applicants will receive their private accommodation allowance payment during the first week of each month for a period of 10 months, depending on the date of approval and the rental period.

• If the service provider does not have a lease agreement, students can download a basic lease agreement form here. This form must be signed by the student and the service provider.

• A process will be in place to verify the accommodation during 2020, as required by the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology (DHET). This process will start with the completion of the application form for accreditation by the service provider. The application form can be obtained here.

News Archive

Prestige scholar, Oliver Mutanga, to continue research at University of Pavia through CICOPS scholarship

2014-12-19

Oliver Mutanga has been awarded a 2015 CICOPS scholarship – one of only ten researchers world-wide to be afforded this opportunity. The scholarship enables Mutanga to visit the University of Pavia in Italy from January to March next year to expand his research.

As a second-year PhD student taking part in the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme, Mutanga is well on his way to achieve his goal of becoming an internationally-recognised scholar. He is currently conducting his research at our Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development under the supervision of Prof Melanie Walker and Dr Lis Lange. In his PhD, Mutanga examines the processes through which disabled students make their educational choices and negotiate different socio-cultural and institutional structures in higher education.

During his stay in Italy, Mutanga will work with Prof Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti on the intersectionality of disability, disadvantage and other social variables. “I will also present lectures and seminars on my PhD work at Pavia University and meet with other young capabilities approach scholars,” Mutanga says.

There is a growing acknowledgement nationally and internationally that there is limited data and understanding of the framing on disability issues. As such, data on the experiences of disabled students in higher education is important and timely in preparation of the Post 2015 Development Agenda.

Mutanga’s preliminary analysis challenges the popular discourse that is so common in South African higher education debates that they receive unprepared students into their institutions. The data seems to indicate the opposite, though: that it might be the institutions that are underprepared to receive diverse students. The study advocates for a capabilities-based conception of student equity that focuses on the widening of opportunities for all students within higher education to pursue what they have reason to value.

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