NSFAF payment delays traced to late invoices

Education minister Sanet Steenkamp says delays in student allowance payments were caused by universities submitting invoices only in April, forcing government to begin processing non-tuition benefits months into the academic year.

Steenkamp said while government successfully covered registration and tuition fees at the start of the academic year, non-tuition payments were dependent on invoices.

"Only in April did we receive the invoices from the institutions because they were also busy with registrations until the end of March," she said.

Her remarks came as members of parliament on Tuesday raised concerns about students being evicted from accommodation, missing classes due to a lack of transport and facing uncertainty over their studies as payments under the Subsidised Tertiary Education Funding (STEF) model remain outstanding.

She added that government was dealing with thousands of applications that required validation before payments could be released.

Millions released

The minister noted that N$156 million was advanced to institutions at the start of the year without invoices to ensure students could register and institutions could continue operating.

Since then, an additional N$122 million has been paid towards tuition and registration costs, N$30 million towards non-tuition support for about 6 436 continuing students, and N$3 million for outstanding obligations from the previous academic year.

Government also injected N$247 million into the system to accelerate student payments, with disbursements expected to commence this week.

Implementation hiccups

Steenkamp said the ministry and Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) are working under significant capacity constraints while implementing what she described as a historic reform under tight timelines.

"We cannot shy away from the fact that verification of identity documents is crucial," she said.

"We find a lot of mistakes in documents submitted by students and these must be verified before payments are processed."

The minister acknowledged frustration among students and parents, but maintained that institutions had been requested to allow affected students continued access to classes, examinations and academic results while outstanding payments were being finalised.

Steenkamp further disclosed that the reintegration of NSFAF into the ministry had exposed staffing shortages, with only 13 chief administrative officers handling awards and 10 accountants responsible for processing payments.

To address this, 25 additional staff members have been appointed.

The ministry is also exploring an integrated digital system linking NSFAF, higher education institutions, and the home affairs ministry to improve verification and payment turnaround times.

She assured parliament that all outstanding non-tuition allowances for qualifying continuing students are targeted for completion by mid-July.

[email protected]