Govt pours N$247m into NSFAF to keep students afloat

The government has provided an additional N$247 million to the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) to help speed up student payments. Education minister Sanet Steenkamp announced this in the National Assembly on Tuesday while updating lawmakers on the implementation of the subsidised tertiary education funding (Stef) model. Steenkamp said disbursements are expected to begin this week. The announcement comes as NSFAF continues to face criticism over delays in the payment of student allowances. Last week, talks between NSFAF and the Namibia National Students Organisation over the matter ended in a deadlock. Steenkamp acknowledged the frustration and uncertainty experienced by students affected by the delays. “The government has advanced an additional N$247 million to NSFAF to support the accelerated processing of student payments, with disbursements expected to commence this week,” she said. She explained that while the government successfully covered registration and tuition fees under the new Stef model, the processing of non-tuition allowances only started in April after invoices were received from higher education institutions. According to Steenkamp, measures have since been put in place to speed up verification and payment processes. Steenkamp said the government aims to complete all outstanding non-tuition payments for qualifying, continuing students by mid-July. She said the government had already paid N$156 million to universities, colleges and vocational training centres at the beginning of the academic year. The funding enabled students to register without paying fees upfront and helped institutions continue operating smoothly. She added that another N$122 million has been paid towards tuition and registration costs. Furthermore, N$30 million has been disbursed for non-tuition support. She said this benefits about 6 436 continuing students. Steenkamp said the government settled N$3 million in outstanding obligations carried over from the previous academic year. The post Govt pours N$247m into NSFAF to keep students afloat appeared first on The Namibian .