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Today, Québec Ombudsperson Marie Rinfret released a special report on how the public student financial assistance (AFE) system is managed. The report describes what needs to be done to correct the lack of transparency and listening.
Findings
The investigation showed that:
- Overall, the information provided to students is insufficient. For example, decisions are not explained enough to enable students to understand the logic behind them.
- Handling of certain files is not standardized, and this creates unfairness. For example, there are variations in how the requirements for recognizing certain medical conditions leading to assistance in the form of a bursary are applied. An initial application is not evaluated based on the same requirements as an application for review.
- When AFE deems that students have misrepresented their situation, they are excluded from the Loans and Bursaries Program for two years. Despite the gravity of this consequence, they are not given the opportunity to clarify or complete their initial explanations. As a result, they are deprived of the financial assistance which they might be eligible for.
Recommendations
The Québec Ombudsman made 22 recommendations to the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur and one to the Minister. The main purpose of the recommendations is for AFE to comply with the obligation to handle all the applications it receives fairly.
Special report (summary) :
Student financial assistance : give better support to students by being transparent and truly listening (PDF, 182 KiB)
