A Quick Summary of the 2014 Budget Speech and How It’s Going to Affect Your Education

In Parliament on Wednesday, South African Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, announced the 2014 budget review. From an educational perspective, here is a quick breakdown of how the 2014 budget review will affect all South African’s:

·         Education was allocated R 253.8 billion for 2014/2015 financial year.

o   R177.6 billion for basic education

o   R29.9 billion for tertiary education

o   R23.4 billion for vocational and further education

o   R12.3 billion for education administration

o   R10.6 billion for culture and recreation.

·         The goals for basic education includes rebuilding schools that use temporary, informal or traditional (i.e. mud houses) buildings. Although many schools have already been built this year, 433 schools will be rebuilt over a medium-term period. R2.94 billion has been allocated for this purpose.

·         R34.3 billion has been allocated to improving school infrastructures.

·         Gordhan announced that there will be in increase to the budget for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NASFAS) and will amount to R19.4 billion over the next three years.

o   This means that 292 000 FET bursaries

o   …and 236 000 university bursaries can be allocated by 2016/2017

·         The budget also ensured that R78 billion is allocated to university subsidies.

·         The Department of Higher Education and Training will also be working with tertiary institutions to work on student retention, since there is such a high number of dropouts.

Did you know?

Eduloan, the only private financial company solely focused on unlocking potential through providing educational finance, improve people’s lives by access to education. Since 1996 Eduloan has awarded 721 017 loans to the value of over R3, 7 billion. We offer financing for all levels of tuition – school, university or college. Our loan offering also includes loans to cover outstanding balances, registration fees and we will help you pay for all your study related items with loans for textbooks, accommodation, laptops, tablets and other relevant study equipment.

Eduloan study loans make your life simpler:

• Low monthly repayments
• No deposits. No hidden costs
• Fixed monthly installments
• You only need 4 documents to apply
• Get a response in 48-72 hours
• No admin. Your study loan is paid directly to the institution
• No limits. Apply for all your study needs from books to laptops, registration fees or outstanding balances

Let’s Take a Look at FET Colleges as an Option to Further Your Studies

As the Matric results are released, many students will be waiting for their letter of acceptance to their preferred university, college or technicon. For many students, late acceptance and last-minute applications are a reality. The Minister of Higher Education and Training recently presented a white paper announcing plans for more opportunities for South African youth.

The facts…

South Africa currently has 25 universities, 50 FET colleges and 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) that offer approximately 396 449 opportunities. The Higher Education and Training department is hoping to open a further 12 FET colleges to provide even more opportunities to students who want to choose a practical and work-ready solution. This is all part of the department’s plan to increase the number of enrollments to FET colleges from 500 000 to 2.5 million.

In the past two years, more and more students have been choosing FET colleges. FET courses are career oriented and offer students an academic as well as a practical study experience.

Right, more people are enrolling at an FET college, but why should I?

FET colleges offer a variety of industry-related courses that can help you get a job (so you can study to become something specific – like a builder, hairdresser or a mechanic). If you enjoy practical learning, FET colleges are great, as they have an offer great hands-on practical training to support your academic learning.

You can read our blog that answered six questions about FET colleges, you can contact Eduloan as soon as you have decided which FETcollege you would like to study at and one of our consultants will be able to give you all the information you require to get the financial assistance to realize your dream. For more information or to speak to one of our Eduloan consultants, visit our website www.eduloan.co.za.

Dream bigger; the time is now!

What do famous people like Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Benjamin Franklin, William Tell, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, and Martin Luther King all have in common? We’d say a vision – a big dream – fora better future. Every single one of these men dreamt big and had passion to fuel their vision.  Quite frankly the time for back slackingis over and we need to step up.Everybody has a purpose, all you need is vision. 

 Fear however is why our dreams get lost in the clouds. If you do not believe in yourself, you stop yourself from following your dreams. Where you come from should not keep you from achieving your dreams!Make your dreams bigger than every fear of failure in your life. 

It is important to ask questions and to find out the answers to the things you always wonder about. Remember you don’t know what you don’t know.  Build an army of knowledge to fight for you and your dreams. 

We have talked about setting goals, these are all building blocks to reach your dreams.  Think of it as a way of getting closer to your vision, your vision that will fuse passion to eventually reach your dreams. 

At Eduloan we believe in you and your dream for the future.  We are challenging you to share your vision for the future with us and stand a chance to win a voucher from Makro valued at R500 each. Now go on… dream as big as you possibly can. There is nothing stopping you.

To Enter on Facebook click here: http://on.fb.me/LipAxx or click here to enter via our mobile site: http://bit.ly/1j0H9xh

Eduloan Unlocks More Potential on Jacaranda’s Good Morning Angels

This month, Eduloan committed to assisting two students to unlock even more potential on Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels. Elphus Sibara and Millicent Mokwape both received financial assistance from Eduloan to support their dreams. Here are their stories…

Elphus Sibara

Elphus is a 22-year old young man, carrying the hopes of his family on his shoulders. He is the eldest son of five children, to an unemployed, single mother. With financial assistance from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, Elphus has completed the first two years of his studies at the University of Limpopo. Elphus desperately wants to assist rural communities to contribute to the agricultural sector. 

(Please avoid usage of figures) Eduloan has stepped in to assist Elphus with his outstanding balance so that he can continue to work towards completing his studies and make a difference to his family and his community’s lives.

You can listen to the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/jacaranda-fm/good-morning-angels-elphus

Millicent Mokwape

Wanting to study a post-graduate degree in education, Millicent Mokwape applied and got a bursary for her 2014 studies. Unfortunately Millicent still has outstanding fees for the 2013 academic year, which will have to be settled, else she will lose her bursary. With the help of her mother, She managed to raise 62%  required to settle her tuition fees for the 2013 academic year.Eduloan stepped in and assisted Millicent to settle the last bit required to make her dream come true.

To view the story on Jacaradafm’s  website click here:

http://www.jacarandafm.com/post/good-morning-angels-extra-millicent-mokwape/

As the leading education finance specialist, Eduloan caters for all levels of tuition. Whether you need to settle your outstanding balance, looking to continue your studies or if you are already working and hope to improve your skills, we have a study loan solution for you. Visit our website for more information or SMS “edu” to 32150 & we’ll call you back! (SMS charged at R1).