Ministry saves millions after student allowance cut

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Tuesday June 15, 2010 00:00

Motsumi was responding to a question from Kgosi Ebineng Potsoeng of the Ngami Region on yesterday at the Ntlo Ya Dikgosi.

Potsoeng wanted to know whether the Ministry of Education is not violating students' loan agreements by cutting the allowances.

He inquired whether the students signed new loan agreements after they were told about the P500 cut. He sought to know whether the students will be asked to repay the same amount of money stated in the contract if such a figure is stipulated.

Motsumi replied that the loan agreement does not state an exact amount the government is to give the students. She said this gives the ministry the power to increase and decrease the money depending on circumstances.

'The agreement states that students are to be given money enough for their school fees and book allowances,' she explained.

She said there is no fixed amount in the loan agreement because of the changes in the cost of living. 'There is a difference in the cost of books every year and putting an exact amount on the contract might disadvantage the students,' she said. She added that student allowances were introduced recently and an exact amount was never agreed upon.

She stated that the allowance is an incentive allocated according to other needs a student may have. He clarified that students will not be required to pay the government more than they were given. 'The Ministry of Education and Skills Development will add up all the money each student used and the students will pay the government back accordingly,' she said.

The student allowances were decreased from P1,970 to P1,420 last year as part of cost cutting measures due to global recession. 'The cost recovered was used in education and more senior school graduates benefited,' Motsumi said.

She asserted that the government is not going to increase the allowance any time soon and chances are that it might be cut further. 'So far everything is okay and there aren't any talks of cutting the allowance, but I assure you that we will cut them if the need arises,' she said.