A number of Masters students on a government scholarship scheme are still waiting to be paid their scholarship awards despite receiving confirmation at the start of the academic year.

One student, who was awarded a ‘Master It’ scholarship to read for an MA in the UK, told Times of Malta he had been forced to take a loan to cover his tuition fees and accommodation costs, approximately €9,000 in all.

“I started the application process last May and didn’t even get notified that I had the scholarship until September, by when I was already in England,” he said.

“I still haven’t received the actual scholarship award, which has put me in a very difficult situation because I have had to cover all costs myself.”

The student said he had been in contact with the Master It office throughout the year and provided all the relevant paperwork, including a half-yearly assessment from his tutors, but is still waiting for the promised funds.

“The scholarship is supposed to be financial aid to get your studies done. I managed to get by with a loan, but many others who get the scholarship are students coming out of university. What about those who can’t afford to take a loan or manage the repayments?”

Another student said he had only received the money for his scholarship last month, despite having also applied last May.

“It was worrying because I wasn’t sure when my university needed the money,” he said. “It could have come a bit quicker, like before the course started, but it didn’t impact me too much as my university waits for us to pay. Other people have had to take out a loan and use the award to pay the loan off.”

This has put me in a very difficult situation, covering all costs myself

The student added that he had found the staff at the Master It office very helpful but that “it seemed to be a long and complicated process even for them”.

The Master It scholarship scheme was launched in 2013 to provide financial assistance for Masters programmes.

The scholarship regulations state that no funds can be disbursed after August 31, and that all paperwork must be submitted by June 30.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Education Ministry denied that there had been any delays with payment.

The spokesman said that once all documentation requested in the scholarship agreement was submitted to the Scholarships Unit within the ministry, payments were processed immediately.