Students of Njala University pursuing Social Work courses have become beneficiaries of the Tuition Grant Scheme instituted by the Post Ebola Recovery Social Investment Fund (PERSIF) Project. The Scheme is intended to benefit five hundred and thirty one (531) students of the university. According to Ibrahim S. Kamara, Project Coordinator of the PERSIF Project, the Scheme was introduced for the development of a sustainable national pool of advanced social workers who would in turn be incorporated in the social workforce of the Ministry of Social Welfare. The support to this endeavor covers among other things, the payment of tuition fees for eligible students in order to ease their academic challenges, and serve as an incentive to complete their academic programmes. The potential beneficiaries may at the ended the day enjoy the opportunity of full time employment or field deployment, as may be required from time to time, in communities for the delivery of social services during emergencies such as natural disasters and epidemic outbreaks including EVD and COVID-19.
As a preliminary step towards implementing the scheme, the Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) of the PERSIF Project alongside the Chairman of the Project’s Steering Committee and members of the Ministry of Social Welfare undertook a field mission to Njala University (Bo Campus) to interface with the potential beneficiaries and discuss matters relating to the scheme. The mission which commenced on the 23rd and ended on the 27th February 2021 attracted among others, Anthony Habib Kamara, Deputy Registrar of Njala University (Bo Campus), Dr. Ibrahim Munu, Head of Department of Sociology and Social Work and a host of students of N’jala University.
Njala University Students listening to the PERSIF Mission
The overall objective of the mission was to initiate preliminary discussions with the university administration, particularly members of the Department of Sociology and Social Work for the management of the tuition grant Scheme for eligible social work students. Defining the eligibility criteria for the selection of potential social work students was one of the specific objectives of the mission. Added to this was the need to obtain information about the cost implications, largely, the tuition fees and other charges for the training of the social work students at all levels in the institution. What was also crucial in the mission was how a consensus would be reached regarding the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) designed to guide the implementation of the Scheme.
Following a three days span of fruitful engagements, the Mission Team and the University Administration reached a level ground as regards the management of the tuition grant. Key elements were drawn during the mission. These include: eligibility criteria, students’ vulnerability, willingness to perform voluntary work and gender equity.
Owing to the large number of social work students (at least 2000), as confirmed by Dr. Munu, it was proposed that objective and subjective criteria may be used to select potential beneficiaries. Emphasis was laid on best performing students as an objective criterion. The foremost subjective criterion agreed was students’ vulnerability. This was defined mainly by disability or inability to pay annual tuition fees as ascertained from the students’ records. A special committee of the University and the Project would however identify students in this category for consideration.
Since the remaining lifespan of the Project is two years, it was reached that only students offering social work in the third and final years of the degree courses and those of the first and final year of the diploma courses are eligible. The continuing students are to receive more grants than their final year counterpart since they have more years to benefit and create a greater impact should quick impact assessments are to be done at the end of the project. The grant package would include tuition fees and other charges as may be determined by the university payment modalities which include bank transfers to the designated university account for the total fees and other charges for all eligible students of the grant, upon presentation of invoices/quotations to the PCU.
Njala Students
The draft MoU prepared by the Project Team was presented to the university representatives for discussions and consideration. The discussions resulted to a revised draft agreement that is to be reviewed by the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Project Steering Committee for adoption and implementation of the tuition grant.
Dr. Munu however appealed to the Ministry of Social Welfare to consider their departmental members for short-term capacity-building consultancies, including trainings in social sork. As he puts it, this would provide an opportunity to strengthen their link with the Ministry as well as following up with the progress of students who would be providing the much needed community social services. The mission took note of this appeal for the attention and consideration of the Ministry.
Project Coordinator of the PERSIF Project, Ibrahim S. Kamara requested information about the number of students offering social work courses at all levels, classified by gender, including the university’s social work curriculum. This, Dr. Munu promised to provide including all relevant details.
What also came out very clearly was the timely payments of the fees keeping in mind the exams are imminent and students would not be allowed to take their exams without payment of fees. The Project Coordinator replied that there is yet no indication on how soon the scheme would be implemented, adding, the Mission was just the first step among others to actualize and commence the scheme. He however made a strong commitment that the processes would be expedited to start the scheme at the earliest possible time.
The meeting ended with commitments on both sides for regular updates on progress and to ensure a successful, transparent and accountable implementation of the grant for the benefit of the students.
