Amidst growing concerns about the affordability of education students and parents are rallying for immediate action on the revised student loan policies to alleviate the burden acquiring education.
The urgency of the situation is underscored by the daily struggles faced by students and parents.
It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu recently, signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into law.
The new amended Student Loan Act entails that Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) will be established and loans will be provided to students, while eligibility constraint removed totally as against the 2023 one.
Earlier in June 2023, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023 into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution.
The move was in fulfillment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of education,” a member of the then Presidential Strategy Team, Dele Alake, said.
The Act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to process all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery.
Although the government initially announced that the scheme will be launched in September, it suffered several delays leading to an indefinite postponement in early March.
After receiving briefing from the NELFUND team led by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, on January 22, the President had directed the Fund to extend interest-free loans to Nigerian students interested in skill-development programmes.
Meanwhile, students and the parents have commended the government for passing the amended bill, but calls for immediate action for its roll out.
The president of National Association of University Students (NAUS), Comrade Obaji Marshall called for fairness in the allocation of loans.
“It should be given very close monitoring, we all know how things in Nigeria works, only those with connections will have access and those without connections will be left behind,” Marshall said.
Also speaking, a parent, Mr Joseph Chia said the keep need to roll out the loans to relief burden on parents.
“We’ve waited long enough for these overdue reforms. Our children’s futures are on the line, and we can’t afford to delay any longer. It’s time for the government to step up and implement these changes now.”
