Federal Government of Nigeria has assured that the implementation of its Students Loan Schme would begin as expected in September for beneficiaries in various tertiary institutions in the country for the next 2023/2024 academic session
The House of Representatives however warned against any form of hike in the tuition fees by public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country
A member of the Presidential Technical Committee on Student Loans and Director, Legal Service Department and representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Kofo Salam Alada gave the assurance on Tuesday, during the resumed hearing of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee on Students Loan Fund and Access to Higher Education in Nigeria, holding in Abuja.
They informed the committee that modalities had been put in place to begin the implementation of the programmme.
Alada explained that certain amendments should be considered for the success of the Student Loan scheme.
He emphasised the need to reconsider eligibility criteria, “specifically the requirement that students applying for loans must have a level 12 civil servant as a guarantor.”
Alada re-assured the Ad-hoc Committee of the commitment of the government to the implementation of the students loan scheme as from next academic session which will take off in September to November depending on the institution in question.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and member of the Presidential Technical Committee, Mr. David Adejo stated that there had been a significant progress in the drafting of a legal framework that would guide the implementation of the students loan act.
The House Ad-hoc Committee is also proposing an increase of 3% for students loan as against the initial 1% proposed.
The public hearing was to ascertain the level of progress made so far, by a Presidential Committee put together to remove all legal matters hindering access to the loan by Nigerian students.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Terseer Ugbor, proposed an upward review from one percent to three percent from revenue generated annually from the federal account.
He said that the upward review was to enable the federal government fulfill its agenda of ensuring every Nigerian student has access to funds to complete his or her educational pursuit, despite the financial constraints caused by the removal of fuel subsidy in May this year.
He however said that the lawmakers were not convinced that the technical committee was conscious of these concerns of Nigerians who are groaning under the present harsh economic conditions as the pace of implementation was said to be slow.
The chairman advised on the need to fashion out how the implementation will get to students in states and local governments to ensure that every Nigerian benefits from the programme.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the students loan scheme bill into law, to ensure that every Nigerian irrespective of socio-econimic status must have access to qualitative tertiary education in the country
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