WINDHOEK – The Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) says to be equitable and in the interest of all Namibian students the fund has decided to pay N$10 000 towards non-tuition fees per student as for now.
Chief human capital officer Olavi Hamwele said the balances would be paid as soon as more funds are received from Treasury.
Hamwele was specifically responding to the National Students Association (Nasa) that petitioned Bank Windhoek in Rundu over delayed payments.
According to him, despite the updates on students onboarding and payment related issues, Nasa deemed it necessary to demonstrate and demand speedier onboarding and processing of payments.
Hence, Hamwele said the fund would like to make it categorically clear that the receipt of the petition to Bank Windhoek Rundu branch was never meant to take place as the petition is directed at NSFAF and not Bank Windhoek.
Government allocated the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation N$3.1 billion and about N$9.4 billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), of which N$1.1 billion has been earmarked for NSFAF.
Hamwele informed the nation that though NSFAF was allocated N$1.1 billion, Treasury releases funds in portions throughout the year to ensure proper cash flow management.
He clarified it should be clear that though the non-tuition fees are paid through the Bank Windhoek payment platform, the payment delays cannot at any stage be attributed to the bank.
“The delays have occurred due to the availability of funds and mandatory NSFAF internal verification processes. Bank Windhoek cannot resolve the issues raised in the petition pertinent to NSFAF. The bank will, however, be setting up a satellite office at Unam’s Rundu campus by Wednesday to assist with the speedy onboarding of students in this area,” he noted.
He, therefore, urged students to exercise patience while payments are being finalised.
Further, he maintained that to qualify for payment however students should ensure that their proof of registration is uploaded, contract signed and uploaded, and be in possession of the Bank Windhoek card to receive their payment.
As part of the fund’s achievements and plans thus far, Hamwele said 24 000 students have been onboarded which translates to more than 500 accounts per day on average.
In addition to onboarding at Bank Windhoek branches across the country, three satellite centres have been set up at NSFAF head office, the University of Namibia (Unam) and International University of Management (IUM) to both speed up the process and take services closer to students.
“Due to various inquiries and demands received in Rundu, the Bank has employed additional staff members to double up on the in-branch account opening capacity. The plan is afoot for campus onboarding at the Rundu campus(es) between 20 and 29 November should the demand require,” he indicated.
Equally, he said payment of non-tuition fees commenced on 21 October at a rate of 1 500 payments processed per day, adding that they aspire to complete this process if students have uploaded their proof of registration, signed their contracts, and onboarded.
Therefore, he said, the demonstration, unfortunately, slowed down both the onboarding process and non-tuition fees payment, thus was not in the best interest of students.