Students Loan Scheme to Kick Off in September 2023, Says FG
The Federal Ministry of Education has announced that the Students Loan Scheme, which was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, will commence in September 2023 for the 2023/2024 academic session.
The scheme is aimed at providing financial assistance to students who are unable to afford the cost of tertiary education in the country.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, David Adejo, disclosed this on Tuesday during a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loans.
He also denied that the signing of the Students Loan Act had led to an increase in charges by some federal universities. He said that the only university that increased its charges after the act was the University of Lagos, which had obtained approval from the ministry before doing so.
He added that the president had ordered a halt to any further increase in charges by any federal university, and that the charges collected by the universities were not tuition fees, but fees for accommodation, ICT, power and other services. He said that some universities were struggling to pay for their electricity bills and other expenses, and that the ministry had to bail out Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with about N1 billion to restore power supply.
“What they collect is charges to cover the cost of accommodation, ICT, and power, among others. It is the Governing Councils of the Universities that have the power to approve such charges for them.
“The only university that increased charges after the signing of the student loans act is the University of Lagos. They came to the Ministry with a proposal to Increase their charges because all Governing Councils were dissolved and we gave them approval.
“Immediately that was done, there was a resolution from the House stopping the increase of fees and the president also gave a directive stopping any increase in fees and that is where it is, even though several others have brought their proposal”.
Adejo further stated that the president had set up a coordinating committee, chaired by the Chief of Staff, to oversee the implementation of the students loan scheme.
He said that the committee included representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Budget Office, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and other relevant agencies.
He noted that the committee had also established a technical team to develop a robust framework for launching the scheme and addressing any legal challenges that could affect Nigerians’ access to the loan. He said that the scheme would be technology-driven and would allow students to apply for the loan from their homes without any physical contact or paperwork.
The director of Legal Services of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who represented the Acting Governor of the Central Bank, Kofo Salami Alada, said that the CBN would not be responsible for funding the scheme, but would act as the bankers to the fund. He said that the fund would be provided solely by the government and that the technical committee was working on how to avoid a constitutional crisis later when states would challenge funds being drawn from the federation account for the scheme.
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