THE newly established Students Union of Namibia has declared a student financing crisis in Namibia as a result of the outstanding payment of fees by NSFAF between 2017 and 2019.
This declaration was made by the Students Union Namibia (SUN)’s president, Kanepolo Amunime, during a press conference in Windhoek on Wednesday.
In a strongly worded statement directed to minister of finance Calle Schlettwein, Amunime highlighted a number of alarming activities by NSFAF, such as tuition and non-tuition fees for thousands of students between 2018 and 2019 that remain unpaid or not paid in full.
He also lamented postgraduate students being denied funding, and first-year students forced to pay registration fees out of their own pockets.
Amunime said as a consequence of the NSFAF’s non-payment of tuition fees, some students are unable to see their final results.
He stated that NSFAF’s non-payment of non-tuition fees for the year had resulted in the majority of students being stranded in towns, with no way of going back to their respective villages for the holidays. More than 30 000 students have not received their non-tuition fees, he added.
“It is against this background that SUN on this date, 11 December 2019, declares student financing [a] crisis in Namibia,” Amunime said.
He continued that the union remains alarmed and unsure as to whether NSFAF will be able to fund first-year students for the 2020 academic year, as the Ministry of Finance continues to allocate inadequate funding to NSFAF year after year.
“We are forced to come to the conclusion that the ministry’s continued failure to allocate enough funds to NSFAF and release NSFAF’s budget on time has been and continues to be Calle Schlettwein’s strategy to disadvantage the already previously disadvantaged students,” the students union leader charged.
He said many students are marginalised and disadvantaged, and that their promising future generation and human capital development is at stake.
“All we are asking from Schlettwein is to understand the lives of poor people, poor students who live in Havana and Okahandja Park,” he continued.
Amunime announced that students were to camp at the finance ministry’s offices countrywide from yesterday, where they would stay until a lasting solution is reached.
Speaking at the press conference, incoming students representative council speaker of parliament at the University of Namibia, Ginola Nauseb called on the finance ministry to urgently address the students’ financing crisis.
“We have seen that there is gross negligence from the government through the finance ministry towards spearheading and tackling student issues with solutions,” he said.
“Our plea as SUN and student leaders is for the government to come up with an agenda to ensure that the idea of a Namibian child working towards the good of his/her own future is genuinely catered for,” he added.
Nauseb also called for transparency in the allocation of funds for student loans.
Schlettwein could not be reached for comment.
