The first details of government’s upcoming Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme have emerged, aimed at addressing South Africa’s\u00a0\u201cmissing middle\u201d students.<\/p>\n
Missing-middle students are so-called because they do not qualify for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) assistance but also cannot afford to pay the full brunt of University fees.<\/p>\n
They’re classified as students coming\u00a0from households with annual incomes of between R122\u201a000 and R600\u201a000.<\/p>\n
The new funding model is being spearheaded by former FirstRand boss, Sizwe Nxasana, and\u00a0will receive funding from government\u201a the private sector\u201a non-profit organisations\u201a the skills levy\u201a financial institutions\u201a donors\u201a retirement funds and social impact bonds,\u00a0according to\u00a0Times Live<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Six institutions including the Tshwane University of Technology; Orbit TVET College in Rustenburg; the University of Cape Town; the University of Pretoria; Wits University; the University of Venda; and Walter Sisulu University have been confirmed to be a part of this year’s pilot, which will then be expanded in 2018.<\/p>\n Those applying for funding in actuarial science; professional artisan studies; chartered accountancy; engineering; medicine; pharmaceuticals; prosthetics; and scarce humanities degrees, will receive preference as they have been \u00a0deemed to be “critical to the country’s future”.<\/p>\n Ikusasa will then fully replace the current\u00a0National Student Financial Aid Scheme with those from poorer backgrounds being fully subsidised.<\/p>\n