NSFAS Cancels Teaching and Nursing Training

NSFAS has decided to defund Teaching and Nursing qualifications for first year students starting this year.

This is according to an article published in Business Insider, last week. Based on a circular notice NSFAS sent to universities on 12 February 2021, NSFAS will not provide funding for first year students starting in 2021 towards the following:

Any qualification that has the word National in its title

BTECH qualifications
Legacy two-year diplomas
Legacy NQF Level 8 qualifications
B Ed qualifications
B Cur qualifications
Bridging programmes

According to Business Insider, a NSFAS representative has confirmed that the circular is authentic.

For the Matric Class of 2020 who are getting their results on Tuesday, 23 February 2021, this news comes as a huge blow on top of the most difficult matric year ever.

According to student comments on a Facebook Group: “With 1 day to Matric 2020 results announcements NSFAS is apparently preparing to throw a bomb for the first time university candidates.”

“In simple words if you are a first time university student or you have never been registered at any university in South Africa you will not get a cent from NSFAS if you are registered to do some or all education and nursing qualifications.”

“The big question I have now is where should all these people who applied for teaching and nursing get the money for their studies? And what exactly is the main reason for doing all this?”

Studying Teaching Now That NSFAS Is No Longer Funding First-Year Students

Although NSFAS has announced that they will no longer be funding BEd for any first-year students, you still have options.

If you have already applied, you can choose to write to your university and change your course to a 3-year degree. That can be a:

BCom
BA
BSC
BsocSci

You can then major in the subject that you want to teach. Examples of these subjects could include:

BA- English & History as a major
BCom -Accounting and Economics as a major
BSC- Mathematics and Physical Science as a major
PGCE

A PGCE or a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education is a professional teaching qualification that allows people with degrees to move into the field of education.

It can either take 1 year as a full-time course or 2 years when studied part-time. Using this method, you will have 2 qualifications in the time that you could have received one with a 4 year BEd.