Free Custom «Education Sector» Essay Paper

Introduction to the Paper

In this essay paper, I will focus on the education sector, challenges students face when applying for student’s loan and give steps that students need to go through in order to acquire bursary funds or scholarships. In conclusion, the paper will give a brief summary of the main points discussed in the paper.

Informational Process Analysis Paper

It is often said that access to quality education is the key to a brighter future. This is true because students who have access to this education lead better lives as compared to those that have access to basic education. It is also important to note that most students depend on scholarships and bursary funds to cater for their tuition fees; however most of them are not aware of the procedure to be followed in order to access these facilities. This mostly affects student who learn in foreign countries and don’t have good command of the official language being used. It is therefore important for them to understand all the necessary steps needed in the application of the scholarship / bursary. For the colleges / universities this simple process can be used as an excellent advertising tool that can be used to attract more foreign students. What is the main purpose of advertising? According to IPA, the advertising process seeks to answer four main questions; where are we and why are we? Where do we want to be? How could we get there? Are we getting there? (IPA, 2010). The above questions can only be satisfactorily answered if all the arms of the organizations work in harmony and effectively.

The Procedure of Applying for a Student’s Loan

According to HELB, there are different ways through which students can apply for bursary/loans; there is the online process which is used by majority of students and there is the manual filling of forms used by those who are computer illiterate (HELB, 2010). First students are required to read terms and conditions that they must agree with before they can continue with the process of loan application, if one disagrees with these terms and conditions then they cannot apply for the loan. Some of the clauses are the entry requirements, application fee, repayment terms and the penalty that a student can be slapped with if they fail to adhere to these terms.  

The student is then asked to enter his/her student’s identity number or national identity card number. This is to help the system administrator verify that the person applying for the loan is student at the college. This leads to the next step where the student is required to fill an online application form. The form has the following details, name, age and gender of the student. It also has the course the student is undertaking, year of study and the amount being applied for. Other important information that must be filled are details of the student’s parents/guardians, their occupation and salary scale. This is to help the financial directors determine whether the student is eligible for a loan or not. Before submitting the form, the student is required to give details of his/her guarantor and then submit the form. Once the form has been submitted, the student is to print a copy of the form and take it to the accounting department for further verification.

Disadvantages of Applying for Student’s Loan

According to Todd despite the fact that loans enable students complete their studies with ease, there are some disadvantages of applying for them. The major disadvantage is the interest rate. By the time the student completes his/her studies and starts to repay the loan, the interest rate is extremely high and it takes the student years and years to complete. Another limitation is that it is not a guarantee that the student will be granted the loan, a simple mistake on the application form leads to disqualification of the entrant. It is every parents dream that their children get quality education; the problem is realizing this dream because of financial constraints. Universities and colleges should ensure that their websites are well equipped and detailed to cater for its foreign students. The language should be simple and easy to understand especially if it’s in English alone.

Summation of the Paper

As indicated in the introductory part of this essay paper, education is the key to a brighter future. It is however sad that most students cannot fulfill this dream because of language barrier. This essay paper has stated off by giving the importance of education to students and more specifically the importance of them to be given loans. The paper has then given steps that can be followed when applying for a loan. In conclusion, the paper has given the disadvantages of applying for a loan and the effects of the language barrier. A brief recommendation has been given on how universities and colleges can help foreign students apply easily for the loans.