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By Goitsemang Tlhabye 
November 27, 2020
Pretoria – The National Plan for Student Financial Aid (NSFAS) has appointed bidders to distribute laptops to students for next year, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Blade Nzimande said yesterday.
Nzimande apologized to the students for the delays and said the department had ensured that the procurement processes were strictly followed.
He said that the administrator had received 140 bid proposals, which were evaluated by its bid evaluation and award committees.
The deadline was September 21.
Of that figure, the tender was awarded on November 2 to five bidders who, according to Nzimande, would be working together with the department and the institutions in the delivery of the laptops.
Nzimande said that all that was pending was completing the contractual arrangements with the successful service providers.
“I am grateful to NSFAS for completing the process and note that since the procurement process has concluded much later than originally planned, the laptops will now be distributed in the new academic year.
He also said that his department was awaiting communication from university councils on the proposed fee increases that his department published on October 5.
The department proposed that tuition fees only increase by 4.7% and accommodation by 6.7% in line with previous years.
On his department’s work to ensure minimal spread of the pandemic, Nzimande said his health and welfare agency had assembled a multidisciplinary investigation team to contain outbreaks of outbreaks that had occurred at various institutions across the country.
Nzimande said there had been some “cluster outbreaks” that had been experienced at various institutions in recent weeks, especially in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
He said Higher Health, the department’s agency to support its response to Covid-19 across the post-school education and training system from lockdown level 5, had set up the team to contain and manage recent outbreaks of the virus.
The team consists of members of the World Health Organization, the Department of Health, and the National Health Laboratory Services.
The team, according to Nzimande, has already been working on early identification of infected students and staff, identifying their contacts and properly assisting them with early isolation and quarantine.
This has ensured that there are no cases in the last week, despite the fact that they still anticipated more outbreaks in clusters.
In addition, he said that they had also negotiated with laboratory services to reduce the time to confirm the results, with more than 600 students and staff being examined and the positives admitted to quarantine and health centers.
“Personally, I am observing that many people have forgotten the rules; It seems that now we have returned to shake hands normally.
“What’s the point of saying clean your hands regularly instead of using your elbow to greet each other?
“It is important to remind ourselves not to wave our hands and maintain social distancing, and I call on students and staff to stick to preventive measures.”
At the end of the current academic year, the minister said that all universities were ready to complete it, with the last one expected to do so in March.
Pretoria News
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