The Scholarship Secretariat has debunked claims that some students on government scholarships have been logged out of their academic portals for non-payment of fees.

According to the secretariat, although there has been a delay in the release of funds, engagements with the respective institutions have yielded positive results; preventing the schools from logging out the students.

“Reports of students being logged out of their portal came from our students in the UK from selected institutions. As soon as that information got to the secretariat, the Registrar and the Deputy Registrar held meetings and negotiated, so the students are now okay, and their academic work is progressing”, says an assistant director of the secretariat, Setor Adanuvor.

He also indicated that steps are being taken to fulfil commitments of the secretariat to the students.

“There have been series of engagements between the Registrar and the school authorities, both in Germany and other countries. The Registrar will be travelling from next week to meet with the German academic exchange program authorities to negotiate the settlement of these arrears that are due. So there shouldn’t be any fears of deportation of students.”

Meanwhile, the secretariat also described, as an exaggeration, concerns over the delay in the release of stipends to students.

While assuring the students of efforts to pay them, Mr. Adanuvor indicated that the four-month delay is in line with the normal schedule of payment.

“Indeed, there have been some delays. But you know, sometimes students exaggerate these issues. These issues were common, but due to the new policies that were introduced, these issues have been sorted out or minimized. The secretariat has always maintained a payment schedule and our stipends are always paid in four months’ arrears, so it is not like government has taken its eyes off.”

“We are all aware of the global challenges the country is also going through. Government is working assiduously to release some funds for onward transfer to our beneficiaries. So we want to assure our beneficiaries that soon, funds will be released”, he promised.