No documentation on hours of students receiving stipends in part-time employment - NAO
No documentation was found by the National Audit Office when trying to ascertain whether University of Malta students in part-time employment but also receiving a maintenance grant were not working more than twenty hours per week as stipulated by law.
In its report on the Public Accounts for 2017, the NAO noted that the Jobsplus employment history of four students out of the sample of 24 indicated that they were working on a part-time basis, but they found that there was no further documentation so as to indicate the amount of hours that the said students were working.
Upon entry into the University of Malta, all students sign a declaration that in receiving their stipends they will not work more than 20 hours a week.
As a solution, the Education Ministry advised the NAO that the Students’ Maintenance Grant Office is to ensure better control of students who are in part-time employment and that they would periodically check up on the number of hours being worked by requesting payslips to a number of randomly selected students on a monthly basis. The solution fits in with the NAO’s recommendations to rectify the situation.
The NAO also found that nine out of 24 foreign students receiving student maintenance grants did not submit the necessary documentation to prove they “have resided in Malta for a period of not less than five consecutive years immediately prior to the commencement of the relative course of studies”, which is the stipulation required for them to be eligible for a grant.
Despite this, the NAO found, the applications for the grants were still confirmed and the grants paid out accordingly by the student’s maintenance grant board.
In another four instances, the respective students submitted documentation to corroborate the five-year residency criterion; however, it did not evidence whether such individuals, who are third country nationals, are in possession of a valid residency permit. Further verifications carried out by the NAO in this regard revealed that the said document was only submitted by the students in question upon applying for an exemption from tuition fees.
The NAO recommended that the Board implements “adequate internal controls, particularly ensuring that all applications for maintenance grants are supported by reliable, accurate and comprehensive documentation substantiating the requirements emanating from the law, before any payments are affected.”
In general, the NAO found that “fragmented documentation” was a “common” and “major” concern amongst the University of Malta, the Students Maintenance Grant Board and the Exemptions Board who were forming the basis of this audit. These resulted in “weak internal controls”, the NAO said.
The NAO found that concrete action against students failing to honour payment for tuition fees was also not being taken in time. Furthermore, the report said, apart from the lack of adequate verification, approval for exemptions from the payment of such tuition fees was at times issued retrospectively.