3 864 OUT OF 4 330 STUDENTS PAID ALLOWANCES - GOVT

MBABANE – Government has come out to explain that it has paid student allowances for 3 864 UNESWA students out of a population of 4 330 supported under the scholarship programme.

Setting the record straight on the payment of allowances, Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Makhosini Mndawe, said 31 of the payments were dishonoured due to inactive bank accounts, while 52 of the invoiced students presented queries and could not be processed. However, he said the above were currently being addressed by both the ministry and the university administration. Mndawe stated that a total of 383 students who had not been paid their allowances, were yet to be paid after the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) had submitted its invoices on April 27, 2023 and May 3, 2023 for these students. This, he said, was a number reflective of the number of study loans that were added following Cabinet approval to add 1 000 study loans awards allocated for financial year 2022/23.

According to the PS, the payment of student allowances for the academic year 2022/23 began in February 2023 for universities and colleges, whose academic year commenced from October 2022. Mndawe said payment of allowances for students whose academic year began in February 2023, were paid on the first week of May 2023.

Submissions

The PS stated that allowances for students studying in colleges, whose academic year started in April 2023, were yet to be paid, pending submission of invoices by their tertiary institutions to the ministry.  Furthermore, he said allowances in respect of the additional 1 000 study loans awards, which were made in March 2023 across all universities and colleges locally, were yet to be processed. Mndawe appealed to students to exercise patience and calm as the ministry reiterated its commitment to ensuring that students’ welfare was prioritised and that an enabling environment was created for them to make their learning journey a positive experience. He said such could not be achieved without the cooperation of all the stakeholders, which included the tertiary institutions, student bodies and parents.

UNESWA Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Simphiwe Gamedze said they were asking for government to pay the allowances for the outstanding students. The CEO said allowances should be paid before the end of this week so they could continue with classes. Gamedze said the ministry and university should meet and come up with a solution on how they would pay the student allowances. Currently, he said they could not continue with classes due to the issue of unpaid allowances and they could not wait for month end.  He further mentioned that the UNESWA administration who were on strike failed to sort out student issues. He said if the staff had the students in mind, they would have sorted out their issues and sent the required invoices on time.

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