Most students in institutions of higher learning depend on the stipend disbursed monthly by Rwanda Education Board (Reb).

This means that any slight delay in the disbursement of this allowance leaves many students hanging by a thread.

A living allowance of Rwf25,000 is given to each vulnerable student to help them get food, photocopy notes and pay rent.

However, since the beginning of the academic year in late September, no student has received any stipend while some are still demanding for their allowances for the months of May and June.

Thacien Biziyaremye, a final year student at the University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS), said the delay has left them grappling with survival.

"We solely depend on cassava bread and beans,” said Biziyaremye who studies from the Kigali-based campus of the School of Journalism and Communication.

Emmanuel Munyaneza, a first year student at the same college, said in order to survive, they organise themselves into groups of four and rent a room worth Rwf30,000.

"Landlords are on our case. We are worried we might be evicted from our rooms. We wish the living allowances would be delivered soon to save us,” he expressed.

The students say it would be better if the money for the entire semester is delivered at once to help them plan accordingly, as many say the delays also affect their performance in class.

"Reb should ensure the money is disbursed at the beginning of the academic year to make life easier,” Munyaneza said.

Elysée Ndikubwimana, a final year student at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), said living allowances should be disbursed on time to help beneficiaries concentrate on the studies.

"Most students entirely depend on that stipend. So without it, people actually skip meals, and this affects their studies,” he said.

Pascal Kwizera, another final year student at the College of Education, said students lead a hard life when living allowances delay.

"You cannot photocopy notes and other material, pay rent, and feed,” he said, adding that some students even rely on living allowances to register for the new academic year.

When contacted, Louise Karamage, Deputy Director General in charge of High Education Student Loans at the Rwanda Education Board, said sometimes living allowances delay in transfer process because there are certain strict procedures to follow when disbursing public finances.

She said the allowance for May was released almost four months ago but it delayed because former distinct learning institutions became colleges during the merger to create the University of Rwanda.

Following this restructuring, she said, colleges changed their account numbers and the Ministry of Finance had to wait until the new accounts were confirmed to be able to transfer the money.

"The money was withdrawn from the previous accounts and transferred to current ones which delayed the process,” Karamage said.

"Merging seven formerly autonomous institutions is not easy. It comes with major changes,” she said.

Students from some colleges like the College of Medicine said they have already got their allowances for May, but other colleges like the CASS have not yet got it.

For the June allowances, which students in all the seven colleges have not received, Reb attributed the delay to some students from third and fourth Ubudehe categories who had previously been removed from the list of beneficiaries and were later reinstated.

This, according to officials, led to shortage of funds, which forced Reb to wait for the following fiscal year that started in July. The officials say the June allowance would be paid together with the October payment.

Early last month, Reb had said the money would be paid before the month ended but this did not happen and the institution blames the colleges that have not sent them the final list of beneficiaries.

Karamage said that since the new academic year started, some students have not registered, insisting that they would only release the money after final lists are sent in by the colleges.

Reb said this financial year at least 5,000 students are to be given bursary which will cost about Rwf5 billion for both tuition and living allowances, while last year, about Rwf4,5 billion was spent on the same cause.

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