The Nigerian government says the Student Loan Scheme will be fully automated with an affirmation of zero human intervention in the application and processing of the loan by applicants.
Addressing State House Correspondents after briefing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the impending launch of the scheme, the Executive Secretary of the Student Loan Board, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr alongside Chairman of FIRS, Zack Adedejii said that a specified portal has been dedicated to the scheme to eliminate human intrusion.
Sawyerr noted in his first public briefing that the loan act seeks to bridge the gap between the desire to study and the capacity of students to further education.
“The intention behind it is to ensure that the reason for not being able to go on and further your education at a tertiary level, is not for the lack of finance. This law seeks to bridge the gap between the desire to study and the capacity to go further. It seeks to bridge that gap that is created by lack of finance, and lack of funding so, this is a great opportunity for that applicant, and they are the ones that are at the centre of all of this.
Speaking on salient opportunities provided by the Student Loan Act, Sawyerr stated that the program prioritises intending students in teacher training programs and vocational skills.
“The program provides opportunities for Nigerian students who want to go into onto the academic side and get a university degree or perhaps want to go into the technical side and go and acquire some vocational skills and some vocational qualifications which are always needed in society, and also in the teacher training space.”
Application Process
Speaking on the Application process, Sawyerr explained that the application will be carried out online through a specified submission link. He said applicants will have to submit certain information that qualifies them for the loan. These include the JAMB registration number, Date of Birth, National Identification Number NIN, and Biometric Verification Number amongst others.
“The applicant will go on to a portal, they will engage with that app. They will have to put in certain pieces of information which made them eligible, what as their JAMB number, and of course the tie-in to their date of birth. Further pieces of information include things like their national identity number, and NIN, which confirm that they are Nigerians and that this loan scheme is being paid for by Nigerian taxpayers. So it’s for Nigerians and the NIN helps verify and qualify them as such. Their BVN is financial inclusion because this scheme in itself will at some point, be able to empower students so we need to know they have bank accounts.
“We need to know where their accounts are to be able to access those accounts. It will also have their matric number, and admission number so that we can firmly establish which institution they are going to because one of the key elements of this is that once we’ve received applications and those applications are approved, the fees or the tuition requirements in terms of financials will be transferred directly to the institution. That in itself has benefits for the institution. Many students are struggling to pay their fees, their parents are struggling to pay their fees.” The Executive Secretary added.
Impact on Youths, Nigerian Families
Sawyer further assured that the Student Loan Act will impact the lives of Nigerian youths emphasising that the scheme will enable the Nigerian government to intervene and support families particularly the needy.
“This intervention will affect the lives of many, many Nigerian youth because that’s usually the bracket as well to further their education. It will impact the lives of many Nigerian families because the onus to pay for education tends to fall on parents or families. Well, this act is going to enable us to intervene and support families particularly those that the needy. This act will affect the way society itself operates and functions.
Target
He reassured that part of the targets of the scheme is to tackle rising cases of migration of Nigerian youths who seek by all means better education in Europe.
“There are many difficult choices people make people sometimes will have to go and do things they really don’t want to do including crossing the very treacherous and dangerous Sahel to try and get themselves to Europe because they haven’t been able to get the education they wanted. So you know, we are setting this up to help us and help our society bridge that gap.”
Judicious Use of Funds
Meanwhile, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zach Adedeji assured the public of the judicious use of the education tax fund collected by the Service for the success of the recently introduced student’s loan scheme.
On his part, Sawyer pointed that 1percent education tax fund was established to operationalise the loan scheme towards bridging the gap of brilliant Nigerian youth not acquiring tertiary education because of inadequate funds.
The impact of the scheme would be huge for the beneficiaries and the country at large as higher education would become more accessible to many, while manpower would increase for the national economy across all sectors.
Dominica Nwabufo
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