The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called for provision of study grants for Nigerian students in the bill seeking to establish the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (Nelfund).
President of NANS, Mr.Lucky Emonele, made the call in Abuja on Monday at a public hearing on the repeal and re- enactment of 2024 Students Loans Access to Higher Education Bill 2024 organised by joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Tertiary Education and TETFUND.
Emonele commended President Bola Tinubu for responding to request of NANS, by including its leadership as representatives of the students on the loan board.
According to him, there is need to make provision of grants for students, to enable them complete or further their studies.
This, he said would encourage more students to enroll in school and alleviate the burden that may be placed on the loans.
“If the Federal Government through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund )could earmark N683 billion on public tertiary institutions in 2024, without requesting for payback from beneficiary institutions. Nigerian students should not be treated differently.
He added that the proposed repayment period of two years post -National Youth Service Corp(NYSC) for the loan was not realistic, saying that less than 10 per cent of Nigerian graduates get absorbed into the labour force upon completion of their NYSC.
He therefore, proposed for minimum of five years repayment duration, given the challenges of unemployment after graduation.
He also appealed that the provision of loan scheme should not be a further reason to arbitrary increments of school fees by management of tertiary institutions.
He urged the National Assembly to pass a resolution that prohibits public tertiary institutions from increasing school fees in the next 10 years.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, commended President Bola Tinubu for his passion and commitment toward the education sector.
He said the president do not want any child of school age to be out of school, given his passion for the sector.
He said the public hearing would provide an opportunity to make further input to improve the bill for the good of Nigerian students.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Muntari Dandutse, said access to quality higher education was a pressing concern for many Nigerian students which the repealed and proposed Act, aimed at.
