Students threaten court action as DTEF stops crediting living allowance
Former president of Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) Student Representative Council (SRC), Theo Monageng says they are ready to go to court if the Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF) does not give them their living allowances for the months of June and July.
Monageng says as completing students, they are shocked to learn that they have not received their allowances for June despite government agreeing that they will be sponsored for four full years.
“As far as we know and according to letters which we were given by BAC back in 2019, we were to be in school for four years, from the 29th July 2019 to 29th July 2023.
“But we have not been given our June allowances, what we hear is that we will not be getting anything end of this month also,” Monageng said this week.
He explained that the development is a serious inconvenience for them because they are currently waiting for BAC to release their results and cannot just pack and go home just yet.
“Most of us were not prepared, we were not made aware that our May allowances would be our very last. Had we known, we could have made other plans. We knew from the letters that we will get allowances until July.
“DTEF should understand that we are entering a new phase of unemployment. We use the last allowance to return home and start looking for opportunities,” he said.
Monageng said that he has written letters to both BAC and DTEF to remind them that what is happening is unfair on them but nothing is being done, adding that they have reached out to DTEF Director, Neo Sebolao but she did not seem to care much.
Monageng shared that they are hearing allegations that they are getting punished for having been a pain in the neck during his time as SRC president.
“We are not sure if those allegations carry some truth but if that is the case, they are not just punishing the former SRC members but the entire completing students’ community."
When reached, Sebolao confirmed being aware of the matter and that it was being handled.
“We have spoken to them and advised that if aggrieved, they should appeal to the Ministry of Education. The ministry will be best placed to comment more on the matter,” she said.
A questionnaire sent to the ministry has not been responded to.
Monageng says as completing students, they are shocked to learn that they have not received their allowances for June despite government agreeing that they will be sponsored for four full years.
“As far as we know and according to letters which we were given by BAC back in 2019, we were to be in school for four years, from the 29th July 2019 to 29th July 2023.
“But we have not been given our June allowances, what we hear is that we will not be getting anything end of this month also,” Monageng said this week.
He explained that the development is a serious inconvenience for them because they are currently waiting for BAC to release their results and cannot just pack and go home just yet.
“Most of us were not prepared, we were not made aware that our May allowances would be our very last. Had we known, we could have made other plans. We knew from the letters that we will get allowances until July.
“DTEF should understand that we are entering a new phase of unemployment. We use the last allowance to return home and start looking for opportunities,” he said.
Monageng said that he has written letters to both BAC and DTEF to remind them that what is happening is unfair on them but nothing is being done, adding that they have reached out to DTEF Director, Neo Sebolao but she did not seem to care much.
Monageng shared that they are hearing allegations that they are getting punished for having been a pain in the neck during his time as SRC president.
“We are not sure if those allegations carry some truth but if that is the case, they are not just punishing the former SRC members but the entire completing students’ community."
When reached, Sebolao confirmed being aware of the matter and that it was being handled.
“We have spoken to them and advised that if aggrieved, they should appeal to the Ministry of Education. The ministry will be best placed to comment more on the matter,” she said.
A questionnaire sent to the ministry has not been responded to.
