Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibian Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) says some applicants are using false information to try to obtain loans, including lying about the income their parents earn.
This comes as the student fund has confirmed that it rejected 6 682 applicants for 2021.
NSFAF acting chief executive officer Kennedy Kandume says 22 867 applicants applied for a loan for this year, of which 16 185 were successful, turning down 6 682.
“We used to rely on information we receive from the applicants, and for the first time this year we validated the income information with the Ministry of Finance, and discovered that some applicants do not provide the correct parental income status,” he says.
Kandume says the rejection of applications is based on more than just academic requirements.
“Many students only look at academic performance. They think if a person obtains 25 points, that’s it – you already qualify for a loan,” he says.
Kandume says during the ministry’s validation process it was discovered that about 1 200 applicants have submitted incorrect information on their parents’ income.
This has, however, caused confusion for some students as their applications were initially provisionally approved, but later cancelled.
The affected students have expressed their disappointment, Kandume says.
“If the applicant’s parental income is more than N$500 000 a year, you do not qualify for a loan,” he says.
However, if an individual [parent] has more than two children, and their combined income is more than N$500 000 a year, they are eligible for a loan.
“They can also write a letter of appeal, and have to prove they are taking care of other kids. This must not include the children awarded a loan,” Kandume says.
Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation spokesperson Selma Ngola says the rejected students have been informed of the reasons for their applications being dismissed.
“All rejected students were given reasons why their applications were rejected,” she says.
Frederick Nghiiteke, a parent of an affected student, said they were grateful when their child received a provisional award letter on 14 July. However, the fund sent them a rejection letter on 3 September.
“We do not understand why the decision was taken to award financial assistance before setting the selection criteria and thorough scrutiny of the application documents . . ,” Nghiiteke says.
“Applications were validated, and after we sent provisional award letters, we found that some documents were incorect. We later informed the applicants they were unsuccessful,” Kandume says.
He says students who have been funded by the NSFAF and are planning on obtaining another NQA level 7 would not qualify for another loan.
He urges prospective students who have received rejection letters and do meet the mentioned requirements to visit the fund’s offices.
