UNDT/2023/030, Alphonso
The issue was whether the Applicant was entitled to education grant for his son’s last year of a five-year degree program which includes two semesters (approximately one year) of no cost/no tuition co-operatives/internships.
The Tribunal held that since the Applicant's son was enrolled in his educational institution during years three and four of his programme, during which the co-op semesters were part of the curriculum, there was no basis not to count years three and four as school years. As these years entailed less expenses on account of tuition not being paid during the co-op semesters, the Applicant’s education grant for these years was adjusted accordingly. To use “savings” made in years three and four to pay for the fifth year of education would contradict staff regulation 3.2(a). The Tribunal found that the impugned decision conformed with the legislative framework.
The decision by the Kuwait Joint Support Office (“KJSO”) to reject the Applicant's request for an education grant advance for the 2022/2023 school year.
The governing principles, which are expressed consistently in the legislative hierarchy for the education grant entitlement, are: periods eligible for education grant are counted by school years, and not by their equivalent in the duration of the education; and as far as tuition is concerned, the grant is based on reimbursement of the expenses actually incurred and does not operate as a lumpsum.