Govt to review stipends for students on loan schemes

Higher Education Minister Dr Ali Haider said on Monday that the government has decided to review the stipends paid to students studying under loan schemes.

Speaking on the fifth episode of the podcast With the Spokesperson, hosted by the President’s Office senior spokesperson Heena Waleed, the minister said the ministry had received complaints from students pursuing higher education abroad under government schemes regarding delays in the payment of their allowances.

He said that although complaints of non-payment had been received, statistics from the past four years showed that less than 75 per cent of students had received their funds within the current payment cycle.

Haider said some students had not received payments for up to eight weeks due to administrative issues. He said delays usually occurred because students submitted incomplete documents or because funds could not be released in accordance with the required procedures.

He said two checks were carried out before funds were disbursed: whether the student had attended their college or university, and whether the information provided by the student was valid. If either of these could not be verified, the release of funds could be delayed.

Haider said the ministry had begun the disbursement cycle two months before the scheduled payment deadline. He said that because of this, around 75 per cent of students had received their payments on time.

He urged students to submit the required documents and information as early as possible to speed up the disbursement process.

Haider said that delays could also occur because payments had to pass through several administrative stages, including processing by the ministry’s budget section and approval by the Ministry of Finance.

He said the issue of delayed payments mainly affected students studying under loan schemes.

“There is a problem with the stipend set under the loan programme,” Haider said.

He said the government had decided to review the stipend amounts, noting that the same rates had been in place for about seven years despite increases in the cost of living in many countries.

Haider said the stipend review would aim to ensure that students receive an amount sufficient to meet basic living expenses in the countries where they are studying.

The minister also said that WhatsApp contact numbers had been arranged to allow students studying abroad to communicate more easily with the ministry. He said special channels had been set up for countries with more than 50 students, and additional channels would be established for countries with more than 25 students.