Students not turned away
THE University of PNG (UPNG) is not turning away students who wish to apply for the Higher Education Loan Programme (Help), vice-chancellor Prof Frank Griffin says.
He said reports in the social and mainstream media about UPNG turning away students wishing to apply for Help were incorrect.
“UPNG students who want to apply for Help will be registered upon having their declaration forms approved by the registrar,” he said.
He said students wishing to apply for Help could get their declaration forms approved by the registrar.
“The declaration forms will be collected and the registrar will have interviews with students wishing to apply for Help and upon the registrar’s approval, they (students) can get registered.”
Last week, UPNG Public Relations Director James Robins said UPNG wanted students to pay the compulsory fee of about K3,000 to register for the first semester, even if they were applying for Help because Help was not a legal process yet.
Robins told The National yesterday that students had to pay their compulsory fee in order to be accepted by the university.
“They would have to pay their compulsory fee to confirm their registration,” he said.
He said there was nothing stopping students from submitting their declaration forms to the registrar, however, students had to be accepted, which meant they had to pay the compulsory fee.
But Griffin told The National yesterday that even though Help was not a legal process yet, students could still get registered upon having their help declaration forms approved by the registrar.
A concerned first-year UPNG student who chose not to be named also told The National that he was advised by UPNG student services staff during student registrations last week that his declaration form was not going to be approved by the registrar because Help was just another promise by the Government with no substance.
He said he was waiting for a response from the registrar’s office for further advice regarding his declaration form and registration.
Department of Higher Education Research Science and Technology (DHERST) secretary Fr Jan Czuba said the directive from the Government was clear that institutions should enrol students who were applying for Help.
“DHERST will pay the fees for students applying for Help before the end of the first semester,” Fr Czuba said.
6 comments
I am a second year student here at the University of Papua New Guinea and I decided to apply for Help but I didn’t. I don’t really understand how this new system is operating. We are not getting our NID card and Tax Invoice number. Can we just get loans? I could be possible in second semester…
This Government introducing this HELP SCHEME is NOT beneficial to all Papua New Guineans. Some of our parents are in private institute where we are trying to get the loan from this Help Scheme and they are telling us that private schools are not allowed to obtain the loan.
My question is are these children form Papua New Guinea or are they from different country? If they belong to this country they have every right to benefit from this Government Help Scheme.
The HELP program is good but was done in haste. More awareness and consultations as to its pros and cons must be analysed and discussed first before tertiary students are ask to apply. for it.
In the current scenario, I believe many are still confused about this program as well as many tertiary institutions are reluctant on having to register students then wait for government to inject the monies into their account as per the program given that government funds comes in dribs and drabs.
Quality of education and students’ education must not be used as a tool for political point scoring and gain…
INAP NAU…
I am a second year Diploma in Management Student at DWU Flexible Learning and trying to apply for HELP but the school said HELP is for the full time students only. I can’t believe it and it’s very unfair. We are all PNG at the end of the day. I already worked and if given approval of the loan I can easily repay the loan.
HELP will not serve its intended purpose if so many conditions attached to it and if people handling it decide to come up with their own little requirements. An acceptance letter from the institution with some form of ID, not necessarily NID should suffice to get the loan. Otherwise we will be bogged down with too many unnecessary conditions that nothing will get done.
This loan thing is effective and valid until next government takes over. Those who complete their studies with full HELP program and when the next government takes over, you are lucky coz it will be done away with new government, that is my view…
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