Cape Town – The Stellenbosch University Student Representative Council’s student funding initiative has raised over R500 000 to assist more than 60 students.
SRC member Lwazi Pakade said the council wanted to double the figure this year, aiming to raise R1million through their #RegisterAll campaign.
The campaign, which was started last year, sought to address the barrier of student funding and appealed to the larger population of South Africa – ranging from the private sector to civil society – for donations.
“In addition to assisting students with funds for registration, the campaign also assisted in covering historical debts, particularly for students identified as the missing middle and those who were not funded by NSFAS (the National Student Financial Aid Scheme)," Pakade said.
"The funds gathered from this campaign also assisted with food allowances for students who had bursaries that did not cover their meals.”
Higher education was becoming more and more inaccessible due to the varying socio-economic issues facing a majority of the South African population, he noted.
“Various governmental schemes exist to support students, with NSFAS being the largest." But not all students could be helped.
In response, Stellenbosch University said that in 2015 it had administered bursaries to deserving students in excess of R588 million.
This amount was made up of external funds, bequests and donations, as well as more than R145m from the university’s main budget.