Among the affected group of students facing financial “exclusion” is the “missing middle”, whose families or guardians neither fall within the income threshold that qualifies for government funding nor can they afford to pay tuition fees.
THE BEGINNING of every academic year is stressful for many students and getting funding can be a tedious and complicated process.
The registration period itself is busy and often times overwhelming. Each year in South Africa, when universities begin new academic calendars, the issue of student funding dominates the national debate as more challenges arise.
Among the affected group of students facing financial “exclusion” is the “missing middle”, whose families or guardians neither fall within the income threshold that qualifies for government funding nor can they afford to pay tuition fees. To assist these students, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has launched the “Double our Future Impact” – a campaign aimed at assisting as many as 10,000 students with their 2023 registration fees.
UJ’s vice-chancellor and principal (Designate), Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi has pledged R50,000 towards this fundraising campaign. Mpedi said he had been pained by seeing academically deserving students struggling to raise funds towards their registration fees.
“These are students who come from families that are neither rich nor poor but at the end of the day are not covered by some of the interventions such as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). We want to try and help them and take the burden and stress away from them,” Mpedi said.
Since 2009, UJ has assisted more than 5,000 academically deserving ‘missing middle’ students with registration fees.
“The ‘Double our Future Impact’ campaign is an extension of the university’s funding drive as many students face financial exclusion, which can adversely impact the future. This campaign not only aims to assist students with registration fees, but it also seeks to create the next generation of leaders for South Africa who can meaningfully contribute towards improving the economy and nation-building. As they say in Sepedi, gofa ke go fega (giving is investing).
“It has been encouraging to see the extraordinary goodwill of the business and industry leaders and the public sector supporting the University in this initiative to help our needy and academically deserving students. We are deeply grateful for the timely response and generous contributions and appeal to the public sector and industry to continue to support UJ to reach its goals through the Double of Future Impact campaign,” Mpedi said.
Upon hearing of the campaign, various prospective students who were set to begin their university journey raised their concerns saying a campaign such as this one was needed in a country like South Africa, which is beleaguered by economic challenges.
Katlego Mohapi has applied for a course in Business Management at the university and is hoping he will be enrolled.
“I could say I am one of those ‘missing middle’ students where my parents are employed but even with their employment, I do not qualify for NSFAS funding because there are students who are in a ‘far more dire situation than I am’. I’m told, so I could do with the assistance for my registration next year. It could go a long way,” Mohapi said.
Echoing Mohapi’s sentiments was Tshwarelo Tiro, who said access to funding will always be a debate and a big issue in South Africa.
“Being assisted with registration will be helpful to many students such as me. I want to study Mechanical Engineering. So I could do with some help with registration. Because my marks are quite decent, I hope I qualify for the financial assistance,” she said.
