NSFAF’s Digital Migration

Tuition fees may seem like a necessary investment in a young person’s education, however, not everyone can afford to pay for a prestigious degree, thanks to the fees.

In response, many students eager to pursue higher education, have resorted to taking out student loans to pay tuition fees.

This is where the Namibian Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) comes in. NSFAF is a pro-poor loan or grant scheme that assists students with their fees, bringing hope to those who thought tertiary education was beyond their means, in turn creating job opportunities where they are needed most.

The process of applying and obtaining a loan in the past, however, is not easy and has often involved thousands of hours of manual file handling, but has changed, thanks to NSFAF’s recent implementation of digitalisation. YouthPaper explores the transition.

Background

NSFAF is a loan or grant scheme that is focused on replacing public service bursaries which were previously reserved solely for those working in the civil service. These loans are now also open to families from the private sector who earn less than a combined salary of N$750 000 per annum (if parents or guardians earn more than this, they must be able to prove that they are paying for the education of other children). Loans and grants are awarded according to two main parameters: regional quotas and priority fields of study. The more you tick off certain requirements that the scheme offers, the more likely you are to receive a loan.

The NSFAF board approves the financial amounts that cover tuition, textbooks, registration fees and related educational expenses which includes accommodation, meals, transport and other fees as well. Usually this is offered to students in selected fields determined ‘high priority’ by the board.

“The NSFAF policy makes provision for funding only to undergraduate studies and not post-graduate studies except for students granted assistance in the form of scholarships offered by friendly governments and/or international organisations through cooperate agreements with the Government of Namibia,” the policy states. Despite the access to funds, there were problems, Thomas Mueller, chief information officer at the NSFAF said. “People were asked to apply as from August, but when do the results come out? December and January. There was nothing you could do. It frustrated people. The NSFAF operations team had weekend and long after hours work and some 25 000 paper-based applications to go through. It took months to sort out.” According to Mueller, the applications would have to be matched with the results, which was done manually once again, and it took quite a long time to process. “It was not efficient at all and frustrating for everybody involved. So we reorganised the entire process, thanks to the newly invented NSFAF Eligibility Checker where students no longer have to apply in good hope.”

Going Digital

The NSFAF introduced the Eligibility Checker and Intake 2017 programme, based on the Loan Grant, Application Management Information System on 15 December, the day the Grade 10 and Grade 12 Higher results were released and again when the Grade 12 Ordinary results came out. This new system is seamlessly integrated with all other systems at the NSFAF and also at universities to dramatically improve the application process.

“We’re amazed. Many people said that it couldn’t be done because people don’t have an internet connection, but we took this argument seriously,” Mueller said.

Now NSFAF applicants can enter their candidate numbers in the system and discover instantly whether they qualify for a loan or not. This is known as the Eligibility Checker. The system also shows you which fields of study you are applicable to study for or not – like medicine, engineering, law or education. Once you are ready to apply, you can attach the necessary documents such as your ID or Grade 12 results, parental income statements or such and immediately apply.

“You will receive an acknowledgement letter instantly and be given preliminary acceptance subject to the validation of your documents. NSFAF validates within a couple of days and students will get an automatic notification whenever the status of the application changes,” Mueller said. Once all the data and the documents are validated, the information is sent to the university that you want to apply to and you don’t have to worry about funds any longer.

“We took the service to SMS, Facebook and desktop computers, and you can send your documents simply by fax or email… now anyone has access. We made it as widely available as possible to offer the broadest possible access.”

Interestingly, you can also use Facebook Messenger to check your results as well, a first for the country and Africa. NSFAF has established mobile teams in 119 locations in all 14 regions of the country. They have also been promoting the new system by going to remote villages. “It’s the biggest outreach we have ever done,” Mueller said. “It even includes 16 campuses in the country.”

Statistics provided by the NSFAF state that 340 000 people between 16 and 25 are active on Facebook in Namibia. Over 100 000 individual website sessions took place for the online registration. About 25 000 online registration website visitors were on the NSFAF website; 60 000 Facebook users engaged on the NSFAF Facebook page and more than 30 000 times an eligibility check for a NSFAF funding have been initiated already.

Interested in applying? Visit nsfaf.fund and click ‘apply now’. Choose the qualification that you would like to apply for, submit your information and voila! Higher learning awaits.

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