Applying as staff member not working

[fsmeets84]

Hi everyone,

My application for Education Benefits as a teacher keeps getting denied because of "Your document does not appear to indicatate you as a faculty member"

Although my function is clearly mentioned on the document. How can I resolve this? It's not that I have 25 different documents which contain all information. Next to that, my document is in Dutch.

[Mr-Madhukar]

Hi,

This is a common problem with the Education verification system, especially when documents are not in English or the job title is not in a format the system expects. The automated check often looks for very specific keywords like “Teacher”, “Faculty”, or “Professor”, and it may fail to recognize Dutch terms even if your role is clearly written.
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You can try the following:

Keep your original document unchanged, but create a copy (scan or photo) where you add a small English note near your Dutch job title, for example:

Docent (Teacher) or Leraar (Teacher)
This can help the system (and human reviewers) understand your role more easily.

If possible, ask your institution to issue a short English letter on official letterhead that states:

Your full name

Your role (e.g., “Teacher” / “Faculty member”)

The institution name and contact details

When reapplying, make sure the document clearly shows:

Your name

Your role/title

Institution name

Date or validity (current employment)

If the application keeps getting rejected, you can also open a ticket with GitHub Education Support via the Support/Contact link and mention that your current document is in Dutch and clearly shows your faculty role, but the system is not recognizing it.
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[Shifkan04]

This usually happens because GitHub’s Education review process is fairly strict about how faculty status is presented, not just whether it exists somewhere in the document.

A few things you can try that often help resolve this:

1. Make sure the document clearly shows your name, institution name, and faculty role all on the same page
2. If your role is mentioned using a local title (for example, a Dutch term), GitHub reviewers may not recognize it as a teaching position
3. If possible, add a short English annotation or explanation (even a simple note or cover message) clarifying that your role corresponds to a faculty/teacher position
4. Upload a second supporting document if available, such as a contract summary, staff directory page, or official letter from the institution
5. If your institution has a public staff profile page, including that link in the application notes can help reviewers verify your status

About the language issue:

1. Documents in languages other than English are accepted, but they sometimes slow down or complicate manual review
2. Adding a brief English explanation of key terms (role title, department) can significantly improve approval chances

If the application keeps getting denied:

1. Reply directly to the rejection email or open a GitHub Education support ticket
2. Ask specifically what wording or proof they need to confirm faculty status

Unfortunately, there’s no automated way to “combine” information across multiple documents — the clearer and more explicit the faculty role appears, the better the outcome.