S African Students Struggle with Lack of Education Funding

Among the first of the difficulties confronting undergraduate college and university students is the need to obtain financing for their studies. interest for funding for undergraduates to get to advanced education far surpasses supply in South Africa. students financing issues keep on being one of the nation's fundamental issues, as students keep on fighting over past debts obligations and an absence of funding for higher education. There is an absence of supportable answers for this progressing issue and the department of higher education is attempting to fix the ongoing issue, however there are many challenges that are becoming an obstacle.

The students who rely on financial scheme aid are highly affected by these issues as they are most are disadvantage group. These students' issues in a long run they have an impact in the economy of the country. The country's economy is affected in numerous ways by these issues. youth unemployment that is already in downfall is highly escalated. when students want answers, they protest.

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during these protests' infrastructure is destroyed and the economy is set back as the government will have to fix those demolished structures. Student financing scheme is failing university students this action result in students getting confused and struggling to continue with their studies. Though this seem like a small issue it is on a scale a bigger issue. 

Over the years student enrolment in south African universities has drastically expanded. This increase caused stress in student funding scheme as many students need funds. The national student funding aid scheme (NSFAS) has been struggling to to pay for all the students in need.

(Bailey & Dynark, 2011). Student poverty and the lack of sufficient funding have consistently been viewed as key reasons for student academic failure and progression difficulties (Africa, 2005; Letseka & Maile, 2008). The Presidential Task Team (PTT) on higher education funding (2016) underscores the pressure of persistent underfunding of higher education in a "context of increasing enrolment growth which leads to most institutions passing an increasing burden of costs onto students through high annual fee increases" (CHE, 2016, p.6).

Many articles explore the phenomenon of academic failure and poor academic progression despite the availability of student financial support. Their studies reports pursued to understand and explain how the choices that students from families with low socio-economic status make in using financial assistance, can disturb their academic success, and expose them to risk of academic exclusion. The evidence suggests that while financial assistance is not a risk factor, students' observations of their needs and their ability to prioritize how to meet these needs, can impact on the choices they make which in turn can impact academic success. more urgent, especially for students from low-income households. Alternative funding models with greater accountability measures and financial literacy are needed to reduce misuse of student funding.

Hayward and Ncayiyana (2014) note that while most academic institutions, even in advantageous nations, face financial problems, such challenges are more deeply felt in Africa than somewhere else. Expansion and massification have placed exceptional strain on the national fiscus and its ability to meet multiple demands such as health care, housing, and social welfare. Moreover, using their own income, without assistance, most South African households are unable to support a dependent at universityю

The expedition to increase and expand access to higher education as a global phenomenon has produced interesting but varied results in different contexts. One feature that is possibly common across contexts in the global higher education landscape is the impact of increased access on the fiscus. Whereas the implications of such impact are studied at a macro level, its effects at a micro level and the ripple effects it produces on the students and their families, particularly seen through the students' own experiences, are less well documented. Increased access to higher education has resulted in universities opening their doors to diverse groups of non-traditional students, who come from differing socio-economic backgrounds.

Bourdieu (2011) recognises the difference in structural conditions impacting students who enter higher institutions with varying levels of cultural capital. Associating the phenomenon of students' poor progression in university to an understanding of their inability to successfully navigate unfamiliar and sometimes hostile environments and structures of the university system can provide insights into the kinds of alienation students experience when faced with dilemmas on how to appropriate funding in the context of competing demands. The unemployment rate that is another nation issue is influenced by these discussed issues at a bigger scale of understanding.

The South African background on the post-apartheid time has build a foundation of diversity between different races. The most disadvantage racial groups are those from poor communities. Their means of studying to improve their family problems are challenged by funding issues. Though the government is trying to resolve such issues the increasing number of student intake and the change from the NSFAS loan scheme to bursary scheme has undermined the government trials to resolve such issues. The many studies on this matter reveals that its not only the funding issues are not only influenced by a single factor but by many factors.