SFAA to advance textbook assistance

Ninety per cent of eligible primary and secondary students, approximately 220,000, will receive advance payment of textbook assistance for the 2011/12 school year.

This was announced by the Student Financial Assistance Agency.

The total amount of disbursement will be around $460 million.  Eligible students will receive a subsidy for internet access charges at the same time.

The SFAA will continue to swiftly process the remaining applications which were submitted late or with incomplete information at the time of application.  The SFAA will make the best effort to disburse subsidies to the second batch of eligible families passing the 2011/12 means test before the end of August 2011.

The SFAA spokesman said, "We believe that by relaxing the means test mechanism, increasing the flat-rate grant under STAS and re-engineering the procedures for handling applications and disbursement of textbook assistance, we can greatly relieve the financial burden of low-income families in meeting the education-related expenses of their children in the new school year."