President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on June 12 signed the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Bill into law. How far can this go in aiding students’ learning? TOPE SUNDAY asks.
In fulfillment of his pact with the youth and the Nigerian students, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, signed into law, The Student Loan Bill, which provides for interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian students.
The new act, known as the Student Loan Act 2023, also known officially as an Act to provide easy access to higher education for Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Bank established, was sponsored by the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Ghajabiamila.
The Act
X-raying the Act, the Principal Partner, Juris Republic Legal Practitioners, Dr. George Ogunjimi, in one of his articles, said: “Students applying for a loan under this Act must apply to the Chairman of the Bank through their respective institutions upon satisfaction of the following conditions: (i) Student must have secured admission into any public Nigerian University, Polytechnic, COE or TVET school.
“Applicant income or family income must be less than N500,000 per annum; Applicant must provide at least two civil servants as guarantors: of not less than level 12 years in service; or a lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience; a judicial officer; or a Justice of Peace.
“Students who have defaulted on previous loans; found guilty of examination malpractices, felony, or drug offenses, will not be considered. Students with parents who have defaulted in respect of previous loans will not be considered.
“All applications will be submitted through the Students Affairs Office of each Institution via a list of all qualified applicants from the institution accompanied by a cover letter signed by the Vice-Chancellor or Rector or the head of the institution and the student affairs.
“Any beneficiary of the loan to which this Act refers shall commence repayment two years after completion of the National Youth Service Corps (|NYSC) programme.
“Repayment shall be by direct deduction of 10 per cent of the beneficiaries’ salary at source by the employer. Where the beneficiary is self-employed, he shall remit 10 per cent of his total profit monthly to the students loan account to be prescribed by the Bank.”
Concerns over terms
Speaking with Blueprint Weekend, a Lecturer at the University of Ilorin, Kwara state, Dr. Rasaq Adisa, commended President Tinubu for signing the bill into an act, noting that it was a right step in the right direction.
Dr. Adisa, who is of the Department of Mass Communication of the UNILORIN, however, suggested that the loan should cover funds for tuition fees, books, accommodations, and living expenses.
He said: “The student loan bill that became law this week is a right step in the right direction. President Tinubu needs to be commended for this bold step. The benefits of the student loans are that it will enable many students to access higher education opportunities that they might not have been able to afford otherwise.
“It is an investment in Future Earning Potential for Nigeria. When the youth are on campus, there will be fewer crises and the government can concentrate.
“Another good thing about the loan is that the beneficiary will begin repayment two years after graduation. I will advise the Tinubu government to work the talk so that indigent students’ hope will not be dashed, if the policy is mismanaged.
“Similarly, though I haven’t seen the details of the signed documents, I will suggest that the loan should cover funds for tuition fees, books, accommodations, and living expenses.”
‘It’s skewed against the poor’
Like Adisa, a lecturer with the Department of Library and Information Science, Federal University Oye Ekiti, Dr. Adebayo Olakunle Kasim, described the Act as lofty but expressed the view that the scheme was not designed to favour ‘the poorest of the poor’
“The students’ loan in Nigeria is a laudable idea which enables students who can’t afford to sponsor themselves through higher institutions. I equally learnt that those who qualify will be those whose parents earn a monthly salary that is less than N42,000. The key phrase is ‘household income’ which is deliberate. It includes all adults working in the home, especially the parents.
“The scheme is not meant for the poorest of the poor. Some families earn nothing. They only survive by grace and share the luck of humanity. The question is how do we quantify their earnings,” Kasim queried.
The university lecturer called for the use of the national data in order for the scheme to record success and achieve its set objectives.
“My take is the success of the scheme depends largely on how well we are able to use the national data we have to circumvent the defaulters. More importantly, the coming national census, if done with adequate use of available technology for data management, will help a lot,” he said.
Requirements stringent for students – Fayomi
Similarly, another Lecturer from the Federal University Oye Ekiti, Mr. Femi Fayomi, identified the requirements for eligibility appear stringent for students who might not be able to provide the required two level 12 civil servants or a legal practitioner with 10 years post qualification experience.
Fayomi, who also described the scheme as laudable, said government must put in place effective and efficient repayment mechanisms to avoid default in payment by the beneficiaries.
He said: “The student loan act is a welcome development especially as it aims to make tertiary education accessible to all. The act is a strategy to address the state of poverty in the country which is alarming and also a welfare policy of the Tinubu Presidency.
“The act will no doubt assist students from humble backgrounds to be able to meet the financial needs of their educational pursuit. “However, the challenge is that the requirements for eligibility appear stringent for students who might not be able to provide the required two level 12 civil servants or a legal practitioner with 10 years post qualification experience.
“The modality and the amount to be assessed as loan is not yet known, the question is would the loan be able to meet the daunting financial costs of tertiary education, would it be able to meet the accommodation, transportation and feeding needs of an average student given the high cost of living occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.
“The government must put in place effective and efficient repayment mechanisms to avoid default in payment by the beneficiaries of the loan. The government must also not consider hiking school fees as it will be counterproductive to the purpose of the education loan scheme.”