A digital platform to assist young Nigerians fund their tertiary education through target savings, scholarships, loans and crowdfunding has been developed by First City Monument Bank (FCMB) in partnership with PressPayNg.
The platform, which is expected to help over 1.5 million young Nigerians in the next three years to actualise their higher education dreams, was unveiled in Lagos.
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With the PressPayNg App, parents, guardians and students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria can open FCMB Tertiary Education Account, commence school fees or tuition savings, gain access to scholarships and grants, and crowdfund their tuition by soliciting public donations from friends, relatives and the general public as well as access soft-loans to pay school fees at a subsidized interest rate.
The digital products, targeted at all levels of tertiary education in Nigeria, seek to increase tertiary education enrolment and retention rate, promote institutional diversification, strengthen the quality and relevance of tertiary education, and offer greater equity mechanisms to assist disadvantaged students.
The Managing Director of FCMB, Mrs Yemisi Edun, described the initiative as key to unlocking uninhibited access to quality education for young Nigerians from all walks of life.
According to her, education is a critical resource for meeting the manpower requirement for national development.
“However, this resource has continued to be limited by the inability of most parents and youths to secure the necessary financial support to enrol in higher institutions and graduate successfully.
“As a responsive and caring institution, we are excited to partner PressPayNig to solve this difficulty by offering existing and prospective students a convenient platform and clear pathway to pursue their dreams in universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education,” she stated.
The chief executive officer of PressPayNg, Mr. Abiola Metilelu, revealed that there is intensifying demand for expanded access to quality tertiary education.
He noted that the corporate objective for PressPayNg is to empower the ambition of every Nigerian to become educated and flatten the curve of tertiary education dropouts by offering disruptive, innovative and creative solutions.
To end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in Nigeria, Metilelu emphasized the need to address the cardinal challenges facing tertiary education. The partnership with FCMB, he said, has given birth to a silver bullet solution.
FCMB has over the years reached out to over 100,000 Nigerians who desire higher education within and outside Nigeria through its education advisory services.
In addition, the bank’s Education Investment Plan (EIP) product offers loan support, counselling on admission processes, and facilitation of school fee remittances among others.
