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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

Bring back dignity to our schoolgirls

2015-03-10

A Kovsie student initiative is currently crying out to the community at large to help in realising a dream of helping school learners who come from poor families to gain confidence in their school work and social lives generally.

This initiative by Nkanyezi Talk @UFS aims to do this through the provision of sanitary towels to such learners at the onset of puberty.

“Through research, we have established that some learners face numerous challenges during this stage, with some using socks as a substitute for sanitary towels while others opt for newspapers. This raises a lot of health and psychological concerns,” says project coordinator Bongani Zwane.

According to research conducted by UNICEF in 2013, one in ten girls who cannot afford sanitary towels will miss a week of schooling during the cycle of their period. This is because they fear being ridiculed by other learners, and because their dignity as girls is not being respected. This absence from school also happens because they do not understand what is happening to their bodies.

“What should be a celebration of womanhood becomes a time of shame and embarrassment with dire consequences for the girls’ education as well as their future,” Zwane adds.

“We therefore appeal to everyone to help us realise this dream of making sure that we reduce the number of schoolgirls who do not attend school during their menstruation periods, and restore their dignity by donating sanitary towels.

“Overall, we have already collected more than 1000 packs of sanitary towels. The office of Cornelia Faasen, our acting dean of Student Affairs, has also endorsed the campaign and already donated 600 packs of sanitary towels,” says Zwane.

“We have set ourselves the goal of collecting and donating 10 000 (ten thousand) sanitary towels in total.”

Methods of Donating

Nkanyezi Talk @UFS welcomes any physical donations of sanitary towels and financial donations through their UFS entity number 1/466/08119 only.

For more information on how and where to donate, please contact project coordinator Bongani Zwane at 079 237 5089 or email him to bzwane@workmail.co.za.

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