The Federal Government, on Wednesday, released more details about the Students’ Loan Scheme introduced by President Bola Tinubu.
The government said the scheme would start in the 2023 September/October academic session subject to the conclusion of work by an Inter-Ministerial Committee approved by the president.
Students from private, public universities would benefit from the scheme, the government said.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, gave these details during a briefing in Abuja.
Adejo said the directive of President Tinubu is for the Inter-Ministerial Committee to ensure that the first batch of eligible students is able to access the loan in September.
The permanent secretary dispelled insinuation that the Federal government has planned to introduce tuition fees in tertiary institutions because of the new law.
He explained that the government has been working on granting financial autonomy to universities before now.
Adejo also disclosed that the gazetted Act would be made public when it is transmitted from the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The Federal government, Adejo said, can no longer foot the bills of university education alone hence the idea of. a public-private partnership.
He added that the government, over the years, had wanted to provide the opportunity for every Nigerian child to go to school and live a life of dignity.
He recalled the Student Loan Board that was defunct, followed by Nigeria Education Bank that also became defunct, disclosing that a number of issues led to their collapse, including leakages, people getting the loan and not paying back, and in some cases the loan did not get to the people it was created for.
“The bill is to make sure that every Nigerian has access to higher education through what we called the Higher Education Nigerian Bank.
“Learning from past mistakes, the bank is not going to be the type that will sit down and be collecting applications for loans, it will also perform normal banking functions and make sure loans are given because we had cases of loan recovery in the past.
“The Act as it is tells us the process but as I speak with you today, the president has approved the committee made up of the Ministries and agencies and their inaugural meeting will come up on 20th of June.
“The President has also directed that by September to October this 2023/2024 academic session, he wants to see recipients of these loans. So it is a very serious marching order for us. So between now and then we have to fine-tune the process for people to get the loan.”
While disclosing that a tracking system would be put in place, the permanent secretary noted that all applications would be submitted in the individual applicant’s school before getting to the bank for processing.
Adejo said a specialised bank would be created to handle the loan applications.
In the past, according to Adejo, “it was like it’s a government thing, come and take and there were more defaulters,” adding that this time applicants would start the process from school.
He also assured Nigerians that the loan scheme would not be politicised, saying the Federal government has tried as much as possible to reduce the influence of politicians from the scheme.