Student funding refined

Since first replacing the government’s Public Bursary Scheme (exclusive to civil servants) in January 1997, the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) has always endeavoured to prove the government’s sincerity in developing skilled and educated citizens. In an interview with Namibian Sun last week, NSFAF CEO Hilya Nghiwete said the fund had, since its inception, assisted between 60 000 and 70 000 Namibian students in completing university (undergraduate and post-graduate), as well as vocational studies, at home and abroad. The past year alone, she said, saw the institution backing some 10 300 students, bringing total government investment since 1997 to N$4 billion. Yet the fund’s efforts have not been celebrated without the frequent mentioning of student gripes, ranging from delays in loan or bursary payouts to former students refusing to pay back loans, and students complaining of being stuck abroad without any support. “There have been a number of operational challenges, but these I think are typical of any institution moving out of bureaucracy,” Nghiwete said. The fund started as a strict loan scheme run by a directorate in the Ministry of Education, before it became eligible for reform in 2010 with support from the US Millennium Account Challenge (MCA), she recalled. “As part of the ministry, things were done differently. The structure was not quite responsive to the needs of the fund,” Nghiwete said. “As part of a directorate, there was no marketing unit, no finance unit, no records management unit, and no dedicated desk for student enquiries. “We now have different departments responsible for our core businesses.”. The reform process was completed in 2013, after which the NSFAF was made an independent agency in the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation. Growing and optimistic The NSFAF CEO expressed sympathy with non-paying and otherwise disgruntled students, saying she hoped the fund’s improved structures would soon show results. “I think in general, students realise their need to honour their obligations as through doing so we can assist more students. They are aware and positive that the fund should not just end with them,” she said. “We are not happy (with the rate of repayment), but we are confident that the situation will be different.” Some recent NSFAF initiatives included recapturing and digitising its databases. An online application process is now used in the Khomas and Erongo regions. “Of course, if they have access to the internet, a printer and a scanner, anyone is welcome to apply. The pilot only refers to our mobile teams who go to schools in these regions with this equipment to allow students opportunity to apply.” Another new initiative, to be introduced the beginning of 2016, is the issuing of student payment cards to avoid payment delays. “Some of the challenges we face are in a way self-created,” Nghiwete said, but added that the fund was sometimes blamed for troubles not of its doing. “Students get stuck abroad, realising that the institution they went to was not registered, or that the fees they’re expected to pay are higher than what we are supporting them for. Visa expiries, unsuitable accommodation, these become our problems, so now we are working on how to address these.” For this reason, NSFAF now requires students to ensure that foreign institutions they enrol in are approved by the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA), are gazetted as recommended institutions locally, and that they have agreements in place with credible institutions. DENVER ISAACS