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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives is considering an amendment to the Students Loan Act, signed recently by President Bola Tinubu, to make the loans easily accessible to students.
The chairman, House Ad-hoc Committee on Students Loan and Access to Higher Education, Terseer Ugbor, stated this, on Thursday, at an interactive session, with officials of the Federal Ministry of Education.
Ugbor explained the committee was constituted by the House to convene a “Legislative Summit on Students Loans”, to collate information from stakeholders and policymakers on the best approach to implement the Students Loan Scheme in the country.
The lawmaker added that the panel is also expected to ascertain the implementation plans and current status of the Students Loan Scheme, and thereafter report back to the House on proposed amendments to the Students Loans Act.
He said “For emphasis, Students Loans are an important aspect of modern education financing around the world, it creates access to education for students who would otherwise be unable to afford higher education or unable to study professional courses needed for our scientific development, industrialization, technological advancement and economic growth.
“For students loans schemes to be successful, they must be easy to access, easy to repay and supported by flexible exit plans so as not to overburden our young citizens and stifle their development after graduation.”
However, efforts by the Ad-hoc Committee to ascertain the implementation plans for the Students Loan Scheme, from officials of the Federal Ministry of Education were unsuccessful, as the Director, Legal Services, Enonebi Azorbo, who led other ministry officials to the parley, was not forthcoming on information.
Azorbo, who represented the Permanent Secretary, Andrew Adejo, was unable to provide answers to the panel’s query on the activities of the presidential committee on the student loan scheme.
However, Ugbor, in his ruling requested the Adejo to appear before the panel in person next week, saying “The Ministry is not prepared to brief us or provide any information to the parliament. You have provided no details of the time frame. And no details of the amendment to this Act.”
