Probe into fraud at student aid scheme

BDLive 20 February 2015

Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande last week acknowledged that allegations of fraud and corruption in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme could be contributing to the scheme’s inability to fund all students who qualify, writes Wyndham Hartley for BDLive.

The country’s universities and technical and vocational education and training colleges have been hit by student protests with classes being brought to a halt across the higher education sector. The Tshwane University of Technology, the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand have been particularly hard hit. Central to the protests has been that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme has not provided enough funding for poor students who qualify for funding or bursaries.

Nzimande, addressing parliament’s higher education committee, said he had ordered an investigation into the allegations of fraud and corruption at the scheme because they threatened the stability of the entire higher education sector. The terms of reference had been finalised and bids were being advertised for suitably qualified people to run the inquiry.
Full report on the BDLive site

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