Reps mull 3% of govt revenue for students loan

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

House of Representatives has said it would consider increase of fund for the Students Loan Scheme from one to three percent of annual revenue of the  government.

Chairman, House Ad-hoc Committee  on Students Loan Fund and Access to Higher Education, Terser Ugbor, disclosed this, at a parley, with stakeholders, yesterday.

This is as the Federal Ministry of Education has said the Students Loan Scheme would commence in the 2023/ 2024 academic session..

Ugbor, while addressing stakeholders, said it was  obvious that the one per cent of government revenue stipulated in the extant Act cannot cater for the large population of students, who might want to rely on the scheme to fund the education per year.

“I want to suggest that if there is the need to increase the requirement of 1% to 3%. Then propose that and we are ever willing to look at it.It is something that is quite critical. This is the area that the Ministry of education can also hold on for it to be jerk up to at least 3% of this revenue.

“Now we are hearing the states or local governments may or may not permit that deduction so I think there may be Constitutional amendment before that 1% may be drawn. So,  if that is not done, the Federal Government can only draw from its own share of revenue which means state universities may be excluded if the state governments do not agree to participate in funding this students loan from their allocation from the Federal Government.”

Nevertheless, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejoh, assured the lawmakers that the Students Loan Scheme will take off before the end of this year.

Adejoh promised that as soon as the Technical Committee,  set up by President Bola Tinubu on the scheme, completes its assignment, the ministry will revert back to the parliament on proposed amendment to the Act establishing the  Students Loan Scheme.

The Permanent Secretary said “do,  what we are saying now is, it might not be a 100% catchment but the loan is going to start in the 2023/2024 Academic Session, it can be October, it can be November depending on the school. Between October and November we still stand a good chance.

“Once the technical committee finished and comes to the main committee then we will revert to the National Assembly with the clean bill. I know we can start this loan  in the 2023/2024 academic session.”