According to the NC TVET students they only received a small portion of their allowances.
STUDENTS at Northern Cape Urban TVET (NC TVET) College have been left with more questions than answers after some reportedly received only a small portion of their much-anticipated National Student Financial Aid Scheme(NSFAS) allowances.
NSFAS allowances were deposited into the students accounts from Tuesday after the students approached the media last week demanding answers about when they would receive their monthly allowance.
Efforts to get comment from the college were unsuccessful as the principal Brian Madalane’s phone went unanswered on Wednesday.
SRC representatives were also not answering their phones.
Private accommodation students reportedly received varying amounts of up to R2 800 instead of their expected R5 600 allowance for April and May.
Some indicated that they only received R1 100.
Students who live on campus said they were allocated R290 instead of the R800 they were supposed to receive for transportation.
The students on Wednesday accused the college’s management of not being transparent and playing with their emotions.
They added that when they approached the SRC for intervention their intelligence was questioned and they were quizzed on whether they had followed the correct processes in submitting their applications.
“We are forced to remain silent and accept the humiliation. Students from other colleges do not get this type of treatment,” one student said.
They raised concerns that they were behind on their rentals and their landlords were running out of patience.
One student from Mammutla said she had to go home for the lockdown period and was afraid that she would lose her belongings which was still in her rented room.
She said she received an allowance of R1 025 but owed her landlord R2 400 for April and May.
The student indicated that her landlord had been sympathetic but she was afraid that he would lose his patience soon.
“I had to give him the same lousy excuse after he called me this morning when he heard that the students got paid their NSFAS allowances,” she said.
“This is so embarrassing for me because the other tenants managed to scrape together funds from their parents and relatives to pay up.
“The only other option I have is for my grandfather, who is a pensioner, to take out a loan so that I can secure my accommodation.”
She accused the SRC of questioning her about whether she had applied on time as well as whether she had submitted her lease agreement during her application.
“If there were problems with my application, why did I receive an sms so say I was successful?”
The student called for an investigation to be launched, pointing out that many students had never received their allowances, despite their applications being approved by NSFAS.
Another student said his classmate had received R14 000 onTuesday while he had not received a cent since the beginning of this year.
“Why are they not frank with students instead of toying with people’s emotions. Every time we ask, we are given a new story.
“Do we always have to go to the media before getting our dues?
“We are ending up thinking of our debts instead of concentrating on our studies.”
