When determining the cost of tertiary education, parents and guardian often focus on the fixed costs of education such as tuition fees, accommodation costs and textbooks, however they get blindsided by miscellaneous expenditure such as commuting expenses incurred by student to travel between their homesteads and their places of accommodation at university campuses.
These variable costs are particularly hard-hitting for students who have to travel long distances to their institutions of higher learning which are mainly concentrated in Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. These travel costs which are not covered by any student financial aid, are more acutely felt by students residing in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, where there is little to no institution of higher learning.
Mindful of the need to plug this expense gap for travel costs which is incurred for commuting to university and back home during recess, or for unforeseen events such as attending funerals or family emergencies, Olimoflo, a not-for-profit organisation, has launched a bursary scheme that covers these sundry transport costs for indigent students.
Olimoflo is a subsidiary of The Allure Group SA, a Johannesburg-based experiential communication agency headed by Limpopo-born founder, Bonnke Shipalana and Caroline Dube. This financial assistance scheme which is aptly known as Standing in the Gap, will launch on 01 August 2023. It will cover commuting expenses of students facing financial hardship from their homestead to university campuses.
The financial assistance will be provided based on the merits of each case and each application for financial assistance will be assessed on a needs basis. Standing the Gap is only open to students who are based in Limpopo and Mpumalanga who are studying at accredited institutions of higher learning across South Africa. This is borne by the fact that there are little to no institutions of higher education in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
At the heart of this initiative is the conviction that no deserving student should be hindered from pursuing higher education due to financial constraints. Eligible students will receive assistance to cover the costs of various transportation modes including bus fares, train or airplane tickets.
“The cost of higher education is prohibitive for many parents and guardians who are either impoverished, unemployed or are part of the missing middle who lack enough disposable income to cover expenses such as commuting, which are not catered for by available financial aid schemes.
Standing in the Gap strives to fill this gap of much-needed financial support for students who reside far away from their education institutions and therefore incur substantial costs when they have to commute between their homesteads and university campuses. We believe that by providing this support, we can alleviate the financial burden from hard-pressed parents and guardians and relieve students of the anguish of the costs of commuting to enable them to focus on their studies,” says Shipalana.
This campaign is part of Olimoflo’s ongoing dedication to empowering communities and promoting educational equity. The organization firmly believes that education lays the foundation for personal and societal growth. By eliminating the financial obstacle of transportation costs, Olimoflo strives to level the playing field, enable students to strike a study-life balance and provide equitable access to education.
The costs of higher education is prohibitive for many families in South Africa. According to data from Old Mutual, the average cost to send a graduate to university in South Africa is R55 900 in 2023, which is expected to accelerate to R95 700 by 2030 – and reach R177 200 by 2038.
The fees apply to first-year studies for 2023 and only act as an approximation and exclude other fees such as textbooks, travel and residency.
To learn more about the eligibility criteria, application process, and key dates associated with the “Standing in the Gap” campaign, interested students and parents are encouraged to send motivation to [email protected] .
