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Government to spend billions on students’ accommodation

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Government will spend R64-billion on students’ accommodation over the next few years, after leveraging a further R64-billion in private investment.

Tertiary institutions face a chronic accommodation shortage as student numbers continue to increase.

Some student’s accommodation developers have warned that the crisis will get worse if not urgently addressed.

It is estimated that it costs up to 54 000 to finance a student bed a year.

But students from low-income families and funded by the National Students Financial Aid Scheme usually receive between R31 000 and R35 000 a year for accommodation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement in his State-of-the-Nation Address in the National Assembly on Thursday.

“The young people who are at TVET and University face serious accommodation challenges , some don’t even have places to sleep after lectures and resort to sleeping in libraries.”

“We are going to spend R64 billion over the next years in student accommodation and we’ll leverage at least another R64 billion in private investment.”

Click video below: President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers #SONA2020

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