The federal government recently announced that the implementation of the Students Loan Scheme will commence during the 2023/2024 academic session.The permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, during a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loans, said the government had directed the completion of necessary work on the modalities for the students’ loan implementation, with a target start date in September 2023.
On the occasion, Adejo stressed that the president has established a coordinating committee with his Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, serving as the chairman.It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu had in June 2023 signed into law a bill that provides interest-free education loans for Nigerians willing to acquire tertiary education.Meanwhile, the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee on the loan is proposing that 3% of the country’s annual earnings should go into student loans.
However, I have gathered that the bill passed into law has continued to receive criticism and condemnation, as majority lament on the process of accessing it.
An education activist, Collins Terese said the law cannot be effective in Nigeria, given the difficulty in getting a job in the country.
According to him, “It is hard for graduates to secure a job and given that fact that Nigeria conditions are not favourable for business to thrive, the bill may not be a success.”
This is just as the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) called for the amendment of the student loan act.
NANS president, Usman Barambu therefore, called for the inclusion of student representation on the board.
He said it should include polytechnics and colleges of education on the board instead of only the National University Commission (NUC) which was earlier captured.
“Student loans are for us yet on the board there is no student representation. The board only captured NUC sidelining the polytechnic and colleges of education, which should all be included for fairness and equity,” he said.
“The method of payment should be looked into as most students will not be able to find their ground financially two years after graduation, therefore, it should be revised to four to five years.
