To be eligible, staff members have to meet the following criteria:

• Be internationally recruited under a 100- or 200-Series contract or be on a mission assignment.
  
  
• Reside and serve at a duty station outside his or her home country (country of home leave).
  
  
• Have the appointment or assignment for minimum of six months or, if initially for a period of less than six months, extended so that total continuous service be at least six months.
  
  
• Have a child in full-time attendance at a school, university or similar educational institution at the primary level or above while the staff member is in the service of the UN. Education shall be deemed 'primary' for the purposes of this instruction when the child is 5 years or older at the beginning of the school year, or when the child reaches age 5 within 3 months of the beginning of the school year
  
  

Locally recruited staff members sent on a mission assignment for at least six months in a different duty station may also receive the education grant, which will be payable only in respect of the period of mission assignment.

If eligible staff members are reassigned to a duty station within their home country in the course of a school year, they may receive the education grant for the balance of the school year.

The entitlement shall terminate when the child ceases to be in full-time attendance at an educational institution, or completes four years of post-secondary studies, whichever is earlier.

The grant will not normally be payable beyond the school year in which the child reaches the age of 25 years. If the child's education is interrupted for at least one school year by national service, illness or other compelling reason, the period of eligibility shall be extended by the period of interruption.

The amount of the grant relating to expenses for school attendance shall be prorated in the proportion which the period of school attendance by the child, or the period of service of the staff member, bears to the full school year when the period of attendance or service covers less than two thirds of the school year. However, the flat sum for board and the fixed rate for textbooks shall be prorated in the proportion which the period of attendance or service bears to the full school year, even when such period covers two thirds or more of the school year.

No prorating shall be required in the event of the staff member's death while in service, after the beginning of the school year.

A staff member serving in a country whose language is different from his mother tongue is entitled to 75% of expenses for his child's tuition in the mother tongue, subject to meeting established criteria, and up to a specified maximum amount.

A special education grant for children with learning disability shall be available to staff members, whether or not serving in their home country, provided that they have an appointment of six months or longer or have completed six months of continuous service.

Eligible staff members may claim special education grant if one of the following conditions are met:

• The child is unable, by reason of physical or mental disability, to attend a normal educational institution and therefore requires special teaching or training, on a full or part-time basis, to prepare him or her for full integration into society.
  
  
• The child, while attending a normal educational institution, requires special teaching or training to assist him or her in overcoming the disability.

The entitlement shall commence from the date on which the special teaching or training is required and shall terminate at the end of the year in which the child reaches the age of 28.

Step 1: Select the appropriate type of Education Grant

An education grant consists of two different elements:

1) a request for education grant advance for the coming school-year, and
2) claim for completed school-year (where you and the school verify attendance, fees and actual payments).

Any difference between the advance you received in the beginning of the school-year and the claim at the end of the school-year will either be added to or deducted from your salary.

No advances will be authorized for subsequent school years if you did not submit a claim for the completed school-year. If the claim for the completed school-year is not received then the advance will automatically be recovered three months after the end of the academic year for Headquarters staff and four months after the end of the academic year for field staff.

So before you request an education grant you have to select the appropriate type of education grant request:

1) Claim for completed school-year
You select this option if you only want to settle the claim for the completed school-year and you do not want to request a new advance for the next school-year.
2) Advance for next school-year
You select this option if this is the first time you request an education grant.
3) Both claim for completed school-year AND advance for next school-year
You select this option if you want to settle the claim for the completed school-year AND at the same time request an advance for the next school-year. In most instances you would select this option.

Step 2: Fill in the online Education Grant form

• Click this link to log into the online Education Grant form.
  
  
• Log in using your index number and email address.
  
  
• Select if you want to create a new education grant or edit an education grant you saved but not yet completed.
  
  
• If you choose to create a new education grant request, then select the name of the child for which this request is intended and select one of the 3 options:
  1) Claim for completed school-year
  2) Advance for next school-year
  3) Both claim for completed school-year AND advance for next school-year
  
  
• Once you select one of the above options, your personal data will automatically be inserted (e.g. contract start and expiry dates, duty station and country, contract type, home country, date of birth, child name and child date of birth).
  
  
• Fill in the required fields and submit it online to SAS (Staff Administrative Services). You will immediately receive an email confirming receipt. You may also choose to save it (without submitting it) at any given time if you want to complete the request at a later stage.

Step 3: Submit a signed version of the Education Grant form

• IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING ONLY AN ADVANCE, then e-mail, fax or mail a signed and dated copy of the education grant form to your HR Associate in Headquarters. For Education Grant Advance applications involving a new school, copies of statement of acceptance and fees should also be submitted.
  
  
• The amount of the advance which will be 100% of the anticipated amount of the education grant will be paid together with the salary. After the advance is requested or paid, the staff member should report any adjustment if the school fees become higher or lower so that the amount of the advance may be adjusted accordingly.
  
  
• IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING EITHER A CLAIM OR BOTH CLAIM & ADVANCE, print your application, sign it to confirm the information you have provided is correct and send it to the school /educational institution for verification. Once the school/educational institution has verified, sealed and signed your application, please forward the signed original application to your HR Associate in Headquarters or processing. Please note that your application will only be processed upon receipt of original signed application. For Education Grant Advance applications involving a new school, copies of statement of acceptance and fees should also be submitted.
  
  
• It is not necessary to submit receipts of payments as long as all the school costs, payment amounts and dates of payment are indicated on the Education grant form. However, these receipts of payments must be kept by the staff member for at least five years from the end of the school year for audit and verification purposes.
  
  
• Education grant claims should be submitted promptly upon completion of the school year, or shortly before the staff member's separation, or within one month of cessation of child's school attendance. Late claims are subject to staff rules 103.15 (ii) and 212.5 and will be paid only if submitted within one year after the end of the child's period of school attendance.

Step 4: When will you be paid

Education grant entitlement is disbursed together with the monthly salary payments. Provided that original EG claim/advance requests are submitted with all the needed information, signatures and stamp/seal 15 business days before the 1st of the month, our aim is to have the requests processed in time for the same month’s salary. Nonetheless, please bear in mind that June, July and August are peak months for education grants and as such the volume of requests may result in a longer processing time during this period.