(a) A student only becomes eligible for funding once they have been approved as financially eligible by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and is academically eligible through the confirmation of registration by the relevant institution. As of 12 October 2018, 3 242 students, who had been confirmed as eligible for funding and signed their agreements, was being processed for payment.
(b) (i) (aa) The NSFAS system automatically generates a link for a student to sign their NSFAS Bursary Agreement once their registration data has been successfully matched to NSFAS data. NSFAS was waiting for registration data from institutions for 9 194 students who are financially eligible.
(bb) 48 104 Contracts issued to students remain unsigned.
(ii) Since 1 September 2018, payments to institutions were sent with remittance information. Reconciliations for earlier upfront payments are still in progress.
(iii) None.