FG begins disbursement of students loan September – Education ministry

THE Federal government will begin the disbursement of students’ loan from September this year, the Federal Ministry of Education has disclosed.

Fielding questions from journalists on Wednesday, June 14 in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary at the ministry, David Adejo, said the ministry received a marching order from President Bola Tinubu on the policy.

On Monday, June 12, The ICIR reported how Tinubu signed the Education Loan Bill into law, which will allow indigent students to apply for loans through a Federal government bank to enable them complete their tertiary education.

The Act also proposes a two-year jail term, a fine of N500,000 or both for students who default in repayment of the loan.

The interest-free loan is repayable two years after the beneficiary completes the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and now Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, sponsored the bill

Some stakeholders, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), had criticised the Act, saying it would make the government shift attention from adequately funding education.

Speaking through its president, Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU said students who took the loan might not have a job two years after completing the NYSC, which he argued could make them unable to repay the loan.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Adejo said, “As I speak with you today, the president has approved the committee made up of the ministries and agencies, and their meeting will be coming up on June 20.

“The president has also directed that by September to October of this 2023/2024 academic session, he wants to see recipients of these loans. So, it is a very serious march for us. So between now and then, we have to start the process for people to get the loan.”

He added that the Nigerian Education Bank to be created by the government for the disbursement of the loan would be carrying out normal banking services.

“Learning from past mistakes, the bank is not going to be the type that will sit down and be collecting application loans.

“It will also perform normal banking functions and make sure loans are given because we had cases of loan recovery in the past,” he added.

Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He’s a good governance and decent society advocate. He’s the ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected]