This Week: Government should overhaul the Bursary Committee

Kelvin ESIASA

By Kelvin Esiasa

In 1996 the government of the republic of Zambia noted that Zambia had experienced serious difficulties which limited education expansion. It noted that the increase in poverty had exacerbated the problems of access to education. The government noted that many poor people were unable to afford even the low costs associated with participation in school or training programmes.
The Ministry of Education also noted that not every Zambian were able to get the education and training they needed or to which they aspired. The Ministry reported that education in Zambia had been inhibited by inadequate development and provision in sector; the increasing poverty of people; the poor health status of much of the clientele; and distances to learning centres.
These concerns raised by the Ministry of Education in 1996 have remained unchanged. It is against this background that I would like to call upon the government to overhaul the Bursary committee.
According to the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education the Bursaries Committee was established through a statutory instrument, No. 182 of the 1973 Education Act of the Laws of Zambia. The Mission of the Bursary Committee is to administer bursaries, loans, scholarships and fellowships for tertiary education locally and abroad. The Committee consists of twelve members drawn from relevant ministries or departments, the two public Universities, quasi-Government and private organizations and the Secretary of the Bursaries Committee. The Committee is chaired by the Deputy Minister of Education.
Functions of The Bursaries Committee include access eligible Zambian students to tertiary (University) Education locally and abroad; Process and administer GRZ bursaries and loans for students at the University of Zambia and the Copperbelt of Zambia; Process and administer scholarships and fellowships offered by co-operating partners or agencies for Zambian students to study abroad; and facilitate clearance for self sponsored students to study abroad.

There many reasons to why the bursary committee should be overhauled. The following are the reason to why the Government should overhaul the Bursary committee.
1) Currently bursaries in Zambia are not accessible to all Universities and colleges
In 1973 the government through a statutory instrument No. 182 of the 1973 Education Act of the Laws of Zambia established the Bursaries. As noted earlier the mandate of the Bursary committee was to administer bursaries, loans, scholarships and fellowships for tertiary education locally and abroad. Therefore, since Zambia had only two universities the bursary committee processed bursary application from student from the university of Zambia and Copperbelt Universities.
So, there is need to overhaul the Bursary committee in order for it to start accepting bursary application from other Universities and colleges either public or Private. There is nothing that stops the bursary committee from accepting applications from the other learning institution rather than the two public institutions.
2) need to clearly define its roles
It’s very difficult to identify what Bursary committee gives the applicants. It’s not clear if the Bursary gives the student loans or bursary. This is because on side the committee says its gives loan to applicants while the other side it’s says its gives student’s loans.
Scholars have defined a Bursary as a financial award provided to certain students to assist with the costs associated with attending a college or university. Bursary awards are not repaid, and are used to provide certain students with money to cover gaps between the amount of financial aid a student needs to attend the school and any available government assistance that he or she is eligible for. While a student loan is designed to help students pay for university tuition, books, and living expenses and collected through the PAYE tax systems.
Therefore, it’s important that the bursary committee clearly defines its responsibilities in order to assists many Zambians who were looking for Bursaries or financial aid to understand Bursary committee operations.
If the bursary committee had been giving student loans as described on its website then it should explain to the general public how the recipients would pay back the money to government.
3) Need to operate independently
As long as the Bursary Committee remains in its state, its efficiency and effectiveness will continue to be compromised. There is need for the bursary committee to be independent and be able to source its own income. The bursary committee need to come up with initiatives that would assist it generate income for its operation. This would help the institution become via able and be able to meet the demand of many Zambians that need financial support.
As noted there are many Zambians that need financial support so the sooner the government overhauls the bursary committee the better for all Zambians.