Why launch of student loan scheme was postponed – FG

The Federal Government has clarified the postponement of the launch of student loan scheme.

Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFund), Sonny Echono, gave the clarification when the Governor of Kwara state, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, on Wednesday.

He said the postponement was not indefinite but for a couple of weeks.

Echono who assured Nigerian students that President Bola Tinubu is committed to the project said the delay is due to some observations raised from the National Assembly.

He said the delay is only to make sure that there are no complications in the proper implementation of the scheme and to ensure that the scheme is up to standard.

“The loan has not been postponed indefinitely, there’s just a little housekeeping that needs to be done, the president has arrangements in place for the launch,” he said.

He said 140,000 students are likely to benefit in the first year and that they can apply as soon as the scheme is launched as long as they have secured their admissions.

“We are discussing a matter of days, maximum weeks for it to take off. The president is very committed to this, and I can assure you that this is going to be done in the best way. We don’t want to hurriedly launch the programme, and there are objections, and it isn’t sustained.”

“We are looking beyond existing students and going into the skilled sector. We’re making sure that the loan can accommodate as many that need it. Even for people with skills, it’s going to be a game changer. We’re working hand in hand with JAMB, we know when admissions will commence, so we are not far behind.

“In the next couple of weeks, the scheme will take off, and it will accommodate everyone, even students of vocational studies,” he assured.

Earlier, Governor Abdulrazaq, commended TETFund for its intervention funds to higher institutions in Kwara and requested for more to be done.

“Sometimes you do things we do not see or request for and for example in Kwara, we have the best university Library in West Africa; it’s such an amazing edifice, all I can say is thank you,” he said.

“The challenges are especially in management and infrastructure for investment and we have lopsidedness where the non-teaching staff in these institutions are more than the academic staff of those institutions and they consume majority of the resources that is targeted at those institutions and that is where you come in and where you have been deepening your pact.”

He urged the Fund to do more to address the challenges in the colleges of education in the state.