BAC students �erroneously� receive book allowances
Baboki Kayawe | Friday September 22, 2017 16:07
Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) students from both the Gaborone and Francistown campuses have been erroneously receiving book allowances into their accounts.
The students have since sought the intervention of the Botswana National Union of Students (BONUS) following the mistake.
The students say the errors are costly, as the DTEF thereafter demand paybacks, and this put them under unsolicited pressure.
On September 14, over 2, 500 BAC learners received P2,500 each despite an “arrangement between DTEF and management to exclude BAC students” from receiving book allowances in their personal accounts. Apparently, BAC had already procured books for learners, hence the decision not to give students cash. The aggrieved learners have since written to BONUS complaining about DTEF mistakes.
The secretary general of BONUS, Tebogo Mmolotsane said they were concerned by instances where students were credited money they were not supposed to receive, only to be put on a tight budget when authorities demanded repayments.
He said the resolution of this matter should be what the majority of students agree with and put in writing by both campuses and the SRCs.
“At a recent meeting we had with the Minister of Tertiary Education (Dr Alfred Madigele), the director of the DTEF and other stakeholders, SRCs spoke against the tendency of mistakenly crediting students and then making a payback plan which disadvantages the students’ monthly living conditions,” Mmolotsane said.
At the said meeting, DTEF chief Josephina Ntshinogang assured the student leaders that in future a common understanding would be made by students and the DTEF.
“Moreover, she also promised that these mistakes would not happen again,” he said.
Mmolotsane further said if BAC had an arrangement with DTEF regarding book allowances different from other institutions, then prior communication should have made to avoid the mistake.
Head of marketing and corporate communications, Mpho Mokgosi said BAC management and the SRCs agreed that students’ book allowances should be paid directly into their accounts at the start of the next semester which effects 2018, and not immediately as it is the case now.
She said BAC decided to procure books for learners despite government’s decision to credit book allowances directly in February because most BAC programmes commenced in July, and learning material needed to have been sourced prior to the commencement date.
“The college then procured books for students for this semester across all the programmes starting June 2017 taking cognisance of the discussions relating to transitioning to the new book allowance model,” she said.
Though BAC management knew about the book allowance reforms early this year, it was only last month that they wrote to the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology requesting that they waive crediting student allowances directly into their accounts.
“However, it came to our attention that the process of paying book allowances directly into the students’ account was already underway,” Mokgosi said.
Asked whether the DTEF is now demanding paybacks she said, “DTEF has not demanded any payback from the students.” As a way forward, students who have collected books and received the allowances, but do not want to keep the books, will return the books to BAC.
“Students who collected books and received the book allowances and wish to keep the books can, based on the understanding of what the original agreement with the students was intended to achieve, contact the finance office to make payment arrangement for books already collected,” Mokgosi said.
Authorities in the ministry had not responded to questions by yesterday noon.