The House of Representatives has held a Legislative Summit on student loans to address the issues emanating from the Student Loan Act 2023.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, who declared the summit open said “Education is integral to the development of any nation, and no country can afford to toy with the future of its young
people”.
The Speaker said that the legislature contributes significantly to creating an enabling environment for quality education and ensuring that
the right to education is upheld for all Nigerians.
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Represented by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon Benjamin Kalu, the Speaker said that the Student Loan Act is a legislative framework designed to address the financial challenges faced by young Nigerians to accessing higher-quality education by accessing credit facilities.
“The Act aims to ensure that deserving students are not denied educational opportunities due to financial constraints.
“The legislature, as you know, plays a crucial role in providing access to quality education in the country. Our role in this regard is multifaceted. It involves enacting laws and policies that govern education, allocating resources, and overseeing the implementation of these policies and laws as well as the utilization of appropriated funds. In this respect, the Student Loan Act is a transformational piece of
legislation.
The Speaker said that education is considered a fundamental right in Nigeria and as custodians and defenders of citizens’ rights, the legislature plays an essential role in safeguarding this right.
According to the Speaker, this is what informed the initiation and passage of the Student Loan Act by the 9th House of Representatives.
To him, the purpose was to “create a seamless access to credit facilities for quality higher education.
“The legislation finds its relevance in the recognition that one of the key barriers to accessing higher education is the high cost associated with tuition fees, accommodation, textbooks, and other educational expenses.
“Many talented and deserving students are unable to afford these costs, leading to a significant disparity in educational opportunities. As a result, we are witnessing a situation where only a privileged few can access quality higher education while the majority struggle to make ends meet. Contrarily, we cannot afford to have the majority of our citizens uneducated” Hon Abbas said.
He noted that concerns have however been raised about the conditions for
accessing the loan as contained in the Act which the tenth assembly would address.
“It is feared that these conditions might hamper the good intentions of the legislature, which is to create access for as many Nigerians as possible who desire quality higher education.”
“It is due to this fact that the summit was convened to harness the opinions of stakeholders and experts on the improvement of the Act. The proposal for this review and possible amendments to the Act was presented to the 10th House of Representatives after our inauguration and this ad hoc committee was constituted in this regard. This singular action demonstrates our commitment to creating equitable access to quality higher education for young people in Nigeria” he said.
He noted that the summit has been organized by the Ad-hoc Committee to undertake comprehensive consideration of the areas of concern in the Students Loan Act as well as all issues of government intervention in education and access to quality education for Nigerian children.
Recommendation
The Chairman of the House Ad-hoc Committee on Students Loans Access to Higher Education, Hon. Terseer Ugbor said that the Ad-hoc Committee would listen to stakeholder’s experiences, knowledge and expectations from the National Assembly and report back to the House.
He said that far-reaching recommendations to enable the
House and indeed the National Assembly to make the necessary amendments in the Students Loan Act for the benefit of our children would be arrived at during the summit.
The summit brought together stakeholders in the education sector to deliberate on the way forward for the student loan scheme.
Emmanuel Ukoh
