Urgent Petition: Transparency and Payment of Outstanding W&RSETA Bursary Funding

For students originally funded by W&RSETA in 2024 and affected by outstanding funding during 2025 and 2026

We, the undersigned students who were funded by the W&RSETA Bursary Scheme in 2024, are calling for transparency and the urgent payment of outstanding bursary funding and allowances affecting students during the 2025 and 2026 academic years.

We have been trying to resolve these funding concerns for almost two academic years, yet many questions remain unanswered and applicable payments remain outstanding.

What is the issue?

Students who were funded in 2024 have experienced problems with bursary funding during 2025 and 2026.

In particular, affected students have not received applicable living allowances and book allowances, while other bursary payments and reimbursements remain unresolved.

During 2025, students were also instructed by the institution to purchase textbooks and submit receipts for reimbursement. Students followed these instructions and paid for the textbooks themselves, yet outstanding reimbursements have not been received by affected students.

This has placed an additional financial burden on students who rely on bursary funding to support their studies.

We need transparency AND payment

We are not asking only for an explanation.

We need a clear reconciliation of our funding and payment of the amounts that are applicable and outstanding.

Students need to know:

What amount was approved for them;
What amount was paid/disbursed;
What amount was received by the institution;
What amount was allocated to their accounts;
What living and book allowances apply;
What textbook reimbursements have been processed;
What amounts were reversed or carried forward; and
What amount remains outstanding and when it will be paid.
NWU student accounts can also be difficult for students to understand, with different balances, credits, reversals and bursary-related entries appearing on individual accounts.

We are therefore asking for clear, individual bursary reconciliations so that students can understand their funding and identify what remains unpaid.

The impact on students

Living and book allowances are important forms of support for students.

Without these payments, students may have to personally cover expenses such as food, transport, textbooks, academic materials and other study-related costs.

Students and their families should not have to carry these costs indefinitely while waiting for applicable bursary funding.

We have already spent almost two academic years trying to obtain clarity and resolve these matters.

What we are calling for

We respectfully call on W&RSETA and the relevant institutions responsible for administering these bursaries to:

Provide a full reconciliation of affected students’ 2025 and 2026 bursary funding.
Pay all applicable outstanding bursary amounts.
Resolve and pay outstanding living allowances.
Resolve and pay applicable book allowances.
Process outstanding textbook reimbursements where students submitted the required receipts.
Provide clear explanations of bursary-related entries on student accounts.
Provide proper and consistent communication to affected students.
Give students a clear timeframe for resolving outstanding payments.
We are not asking for special treatment.

We are asking for transparency about funding that has been allocated or should be allocated to us, and for the outstanding amounts applicable to us to be paid.

We need answers.

We need transparency.

We need our outstanding payments.

Please sign and share this petition to support affected W&RSETA-funded students.