Months after the start of a new scholastic year, deserving students at the University of Malta, Mcast and other post-secondary institutions eligible for a supplementary grant are still waiting for the first payment to be made.

The supplementary grant of €286.92, covering four-week periods, is given to students facing proven hardships.

These are mostly individuals coming from low-income households, having disabilities or going through difficult periods.

Every application must be backed up by relevant documents.

Those who applied for the grant are also still in the dark as to whether their application was accepted or not.

In previous years, students approved for supplementary grants received a first payment at the beginning of December, covering the first of 10 stipends.

A second payment, made at the end of December usually included the second stipend, the supplementary grant and any arrears due.

This year, students who applied were surprised to note the grant was not included in the payslips for December.

This was confirmed when the payments were made at the end of the month and only the standard sum of €85.45, paid to all full-time students, was received.

Romina Cuschieri, chairman of the Students’ Maintenance Grant Board, says applications are being processed and the grants should be issued at the end of the month, along with any arrears.

Students wanting to apply for the grant were given a timeframe within which to submit the application: between October 1 and November 30, 2014.

Instead of focusing on my exams,I have to try and see where I can find an odd job here and there to make some money

This did not happen in previous years and one could hand in the application at any time during the scholastic year.

Dr Cuschieri attributes the delay to a change in procedures related to this submission period. The newly-enforced timeframe meant that the processing of applications fell behind and payments had to be postponed to the end of January.

A student whose application is accepted will not necessarily keep receiving the grant subsequently and, according to the university’s stipends office website, each applicant is informed of the board decision via e-mail.

A university student who was deemed eligible for the grant in the last three years says that most applicants have not yet received such messages.

“Really and truly, if waiting is what we have to do, then fine, we will do that. It is the lack of information that kills us,” he complained.

“We don’t even know if our applications have been approved or not”.

He reports that his attempts to contact the university’s stipends office by e-mail were futile.

While for most students stipends are an extra benefit, to others, grants are crucial as, without them, they have to make an extra effort to make ends meet.

“When you’re stuck micromanaging every cent, it makes studying less significant.

“Now, instead of focusing on my exams, I have to try and see where I can find an odd job here and there to make some money.

“At this rate, we will be in semester two by the time we see any of the money,” said the student, who wished to remain anonymous.

The second semester starts on February 2.

Dr Cuschieri noted that this year, the board had received more applications than in previous years.

She pointed out that there had been a few “unique and very special cases” wherein a small number of students had had grants issued to them.