NSFAF applications must be in today

The Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) has brought the 2018 closing date for applications forward by nearly two weeks, with the original closing date of 28 February shifted to today. The fund also announced that it would be able to reimburse a little over N$75 million out of a total of N$279 million still needed to settle outstanding 2017 non-tuition fees for students. More than 18 500 students will receive a partial or full settlement of outstanding non-tuition fees between Thursday and next week Friday. The NSFAF said it was uncertain when the rest of the money would be available. Olavi Hamwele, the fund's chief human capital and corporate affairs officer, said the fund had launched a widespread media, social media and online campaign to ensure that students were aware of the earlier deadline for applications. He said the fund was confident that its decision to bring forward the closing date would not disadvantage students who had planned to apply this year. The NSFAF said it based the decision on the fact that 11 799 applications for 2018 had been processed, around 3 000 higher than the 8 000 learners whose Grade 12 results from the previous year made them eligible for admission to tertiary institutions. The discrepancy was probably caused by students from institutions such as the Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol), those who had taken a study break, and older students who had finished school in previous years, the fund noted. “It is therefore logical to bring the application closing date forward to allow for earlier verification and timely adjudication,” the NSFAF announced in their press statement.Hamwele said the processing of the applications would take no longer than a month after the closing date.During the press briefing, Hamwele said last year the fund approved the applications of 15 000 students out of a total of 25 000 who had applied. Payment of non-tuition fees still outstanding from last year will begin on Thursday and end next Friday. Hamwele explained that N$75 million was made available as a partial payment towards the outstanding fees. The 2 344 students at VTC institutions will receive a complete settlement payment of N$1 541 each, totalling more than N$3.6 million.The rest of the money will be distributed in chunks of N$4 280 to 16 232 students over the next week. JANA-MARI SMITH

NSFAF applications must be in today

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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NSFAF applications must be in today

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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