NSFAS applications and other updates

Dear students and colleagues

This campus announcement aims to inform members of the University of Cape Town community about:

1. NSFAS applications

The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor, has announced that new applicants may apply for the 2019 National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) from Monday, 3 September 2018.

NSFAS has deployed staff to all tertiary institutions to resolve issues, including bottlenecks, which have resulted from a range of factors. NSFAS reports that the necessary funds are available and steady progress is being made in getting financial support to qualifying students.

Students who meet NSFAS’s academic requirements are urged to sign outstanding NSFAS bursary agreements to ensure the continuation of funding for their 2019 academic year.

• Read the full statement.

2. Latest edition of UCT News now available

The August edition of UCT News focuses on substantial new scholarships, especially for women, recently established by Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. The edition also revisits the 1968 Bremner occupation sparked by the infamous Mafeje affair, when students protested UCT’s reversal of the appointment of acclaimed black social anthropologist Archie Mafeje. It provides details about UCT Libraries’ new Primo search and discovery system, and covers the official launch of UCT’s Inclusivity Policy for Sexual Orientation – the first policy of its kind at a South African university.

• Read UCT News.

3. UCT to establish Futures Think Tank

Professor Phakeng recently established the “Futures scholarship” initiative to consider the implications on universities and society of global challenges, such as climate change, the fourth industrial revolution, technological advances, artificial intelligence, global migration, Generation C phenomena and other issues.

• Read the VC Desk on the Futures Think Tank.

4. Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture Series

The next lecture in the 2018 Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture Series will be presented by Karin Murris, Professor of Pedagogy and Philosophy at UCT’s School of Education. The lecture, titled “Posthuman Child: Reconfiguring the human and educational relationality in all phases of education”, will take place on Wednesday, 5 September 2018, at Lecture Theatre 2, Kramer Law Building, Middle Campus, University of Cape Town. It will start at 17:30 (doors open at 17:00). RSVP for the lecture.

• Read the VC Desk on the Inaugural Lecture.

Communication and Marketing Department

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements