The Student Loan Initiative
It is emotionally rewarding that the long-awaited student loan initiative of the federal government of Nigeria has finally started. The idea of the student loan was first raised last year by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu but could not commence as earlier scheduled. Instructively, thousands of Nigerian university students have listed for the student loan scheme since the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) student loan portal opened.
The managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Dr. Akintunde Sawyer, said at a pre-application awareness press conference in Abuja that 1,200,000 students in federal tertiary institutions, including federal universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and technical colleges, would benefit from the first phase of the student loan scheme. There are about two hundred and twenty six federal tertiary institutions in the country, comprising sixty two universities, forty one polytechnics, ninety six monotechnics and twenty seven colleges of education.
Similarly, there are sixty three state universities, fifty four state polytechnics, fifty seven state monotechnics and one hundred and eleven state technical colleges. There are also fifty one state colleges of education. Nigeria has about one hundred and forty seven private universities, fifty one polytechnics and twenty colleges of education.
The launching of the student loan scheme came on the heels of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signing the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into law in April. The assent was sequel to scrutiny by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the report of the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. This is a welcome development.
The Student Loan Act empowers the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to provide student loans to qualified Nigerian students for tuition, fees, charges and upkeep during their studies in approved public tertiary institutions and vocational and skills acquisition establishments in Nigeria. It replaced the Student Loan Act, 2023, by removing the family income threshold so that students can apply for student loans and accept responsibility for repayment, according to the guidelines of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
According to Dr. Akintunde Sawyer, the student loan, which will be paid directly to the institutions will be 100% tuition fee per session while monthly stipends will be paid directly to the benefitting students to serve as support. The student loan will be repaid 2 years after the completion of the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps scheme.
It is expected that the student loan scheme will increase Nigerian youths’ access to higher education. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu highlighted this fact soon after the Student Loan Act was signed at the State House, Abuja. “This is to ensure that no one, no matter how poor their background is, is excluded from quality education and opportunity to build their future,” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stated.
Although the student loan scheme will in its first phase accommodate about 1,200,000 beneficiaries from federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, it is expected that students from state universities and other tertiary institutions owned by the states will be considered in the second phase of the student loan scheme. We also enjoin the government to factor students from private universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the student loan scheme.
In fact, every Nigerian student in a higher institution should be accommodated in the student loan scheme.
No Nigerian student in higher institution should be excluded from the laudable student loan scheme. To accommodate more students in the student loan scheme, the government should significantly increase the number of beneficiaries. We urge the government to ensure that the implementation of the student loan scheme is transparent and seamless. The student loan should be given to those who are qualified for it. On no account should the student loan scheme be politicised or used to settle party supporters.
Since the student loan scheme is a federal government initiative, the state governments can also introduce a similar student loan scheme in their domains to cater for other students that could not be accommodated in the present student loan scheme. As a developing nation, there is urgent need to widen the access to higher education so that many Nigerian students will actualise their higher education dreams and aspirations.
While the student loan scheme is worthy of praise, the government must begin to equip universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country. The government should increase the funding of these institutions. Let there be emphasis on technical education and vocational skills acquisition, which will make our graduates self-employed and entrepreneurs as well as enable them create jobs.
Comments
Post a Comment