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Urgent communication regarding payment of subsidies to NSFAS-funded UFS students

06 April 2022 | Story Lacea Loader

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) confirmed in a circular this week that monies will be paid to universities on 8 April 2022.

This will be the first payment that the University of the Free State (UFS) receives from NSFAS this year, as per the media statement by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande.

So far this year, the UFS management has made several concessions to students to alleviate their financial pressure while waiting for their NSFAS subsidies to be released.

This week, the university management – through active engagements and input from the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) – agreed on the following process for book and meal allowances to be transferred to students’ bank accounts at the earliest possible opportunity:

As in the past, the services of Fundi will be used to pay the allowances to students.
Fundi will inform the recipients of monies received for them.
After the banking details of students have been validated, monies are transferred to a student’s bank account. Fundi will inform students whose banking details are incorrect to rectify it on the Fundi website.
Students who have not received payments before, will be requested to upload their banking details on the Fundi website, after which payment will be made.

It is anticipated that students whose bank accounts are with Standard Bank will receive notice of the payment of their allowance as soon as Friday, 8 April 2022.

Students banking with other banks will receive their payments subject to the inter-banking money transfer policies of the different banks, but not later than two business days after payment.

What students must do:

Ensure that you upload the correct banking details.
Upload your OWN banking details, not the banking details of friends or family.
Ensure that your cellphone number is correct and active on PeopleSoft.
Respond as quickly as possible to SMSes received from Fundi.

The university management would like to thank the majority of students for their patience during this difficult time while waiting for the NSFAS subsidies to be released.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

South Campus delivers out-of-the-box solutions

2017-11-07

The AIO device as deployed in an IBP school.
Photo: Elrieka van Dalen

The IDEAS Lab on our South Campus supports learners in 83 schools by means of academic videos transmitted via the Internet Broadcast Project (IBP) and its own custom-built All-in-One (AIO) device. The project is a collaboration between UFS and the Department of Education in the Free State. It includes support for Mathematics, Physical Science, Life Science, Economics, Accounting, and Geography.

The AIO was purpose-built by the team at IDEAS Lab to facilitate the delivery of video lectures from highly-qualified teachers to identified schools. It comprises a projector, speakers, and a computer, which are housed in a custom-made, hard-wearing frame. The AIO is then set up at each school to which lessons are broadcast.

On-the-job training for educators

Educators have not been overlooked, either. UFS was the very first university to provide an Advanced Certificate in Teaching in a fully digital format, the ACT Online programme. It is designed for practicing teachers to upskill themselves in order to better address the needs in the classroom, not only advancing their career, but strengthening their knowledge, competencies, and subject specialisation as well. Ultimately, this leads to an improved quality of education, which has a profound impact on multitudes of students around South Africa.

CSIR joint initiative

Coupled with these projects is a new joint initiative termed ICT For Education. This project sees the CSIR collaborating with the national Department of Education, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and the UFS. For this project, 24 primary and secondary schools in South Africa were identified to promote technological advancement in the education sector. Tablet computers have been allocated and already deployed at these schools, to learners as well as nearly 400 teachers.

South Campus is involved in the training of the teachers and learners in the use of the tablets in the classroom and other educational opportunities. In addition, training for 48 unemployed young people who will be providing first-line support began in March at a school in Thaba Nchu. The course on IT support is structured in such a way that anyone in the community can take it, starting out with topics such as My role in the community.

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