Role players, such as the Directorate of Student Funding and the National Student Representative Council, joined virtually to understand the potential the partnership carries to ensure the availability of funds for students. Green said that Feenix now also includes a skills development bursary programme. She further explained how the programme works to assist funders looking for beneficiaries.
This is an essential aspect as the pool of funders is increasing, but it needs to be matched with beneficiaries. The Feenix Trust serves 26 universities in South Africa, with 9 000 students currently on the platform and 3 500 of them currently actively fundraising.
To date, 165 Unisa students have been funded though the Feenix platform. The average funding per student was R7 617.29 across commerce (48%), education (16%), engineering (1%), humanities (11%), law (13%) and science (13%). In addition, the number of Unisa students on the platform grew by 14.56% between 2017 and 2022.
Lloyd Modjadji, Development Officer for the Unisa Foundation, said ensuring that no student is left behind because of a lack of funding was essential. Furthermore, the National Student Representative Council’s Secretary General, Shatadi Phoshoko, indicated that students must participate in reducing student debt.
There will be various campaigns on campus to mobilise students, staff and the public to contribute to the creation of student bursaries and to reduce student debt at Unisa.