JUST IN: Student Loan Portal Opens For Applications On May 24
The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, on Thursday night announced that May 24, 2024, was the official date for “the opening of a portal for student loan applications, a statement signed by the media lead of the Fund, Nasir Ayitogo, said.
Ayitogo, in a statement, said the opening of the application portal marks a significant milestone in the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to fostering accessible and inclusive education for all Nigerian students.”
On June 12, 2023, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution.
The move was in “fulfilment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of education, a member of the then Presidential Strategy Team, Dele Alake, said. The Act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to process all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery. Although the government initially announced that the scheme would be launched in September, it suffered several delays, leading to an indefinite postponement in early March.
The Presidency had linked the delay to Tinubu’s directive to expand the scheme to include loans for vocational skills.
After receiving a briefing from the NELFUND team led by the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, on January 22, the President directed the Fund to extend interest-free loans to Nigerian students interested in skill- development programmes. Tinubu based his decision on the need for the scheme to accommodate those who may not want to pursue a university education, noting that skill acquisition is as essential as obtaining undergraduate and graduate academic qualifications.
“This is not an exclusive programme. It is catering to all of our young people. Young Nigerians are gifted in different areas.
‘This is not only for those who want to be doctors, lawyers, and accountants. It is also for those who aspire to use their skilled and trained hands to build our nation. “In accordance with this, I have instructed NELFUND to explore all opportunities to inculcate skill- development programmes because not everybody wants to go through a full university education,” he had said. Through the portal, students can now access loans to pursue their academic aspirations without financial constraints.
The portal, according to the statement, provides a user-friendly interface for students to submit their loan applications conveniently.
“We encourage all eligible students to take advantage of this opportunity to invest in their future and contribute to the growth and development of our nation ‘Students can access the portal on www.nelf.gov.ng to begin application,” the statement said.
We must recall that President Bola Tinubu on June 12, 2023, signed the Access to Higher Education Bill into law to enable indigent student access interest-free loan to pursue their education in any Nigerian tertiary Institutions. The scheme was slated to commence between September and October 2023, but because of unforeseen circumstances, there was a revised timeline to January.
Giving reasons for the delay in starting the scheme as earlier scheduled, Sawyerr explained that the process is technically driven and necessary measures needed to be put in place for proper execution. ‘The take-off date is this month. (March) and the reason for the delay is that we are trying to get it right. “This is not a political programme where we say, oh! we are just going to do it, it doesn’t matter how it works.
‘This is a programme that will, probably run beyond me as a human being, not even as a Secretary. This is something that we want to run adequately, so we have to get it right,” he said. Sawyerr, reiterated President Tinubu’s commitment to ensure that lack of finance should not be a reason for any student in Nigeria to halt education at a tertiary level. According to him, the scheme was designed for indigent Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and applications would be done online. “We have decided that, all applicants should be able to access this scheme regardless of where they are, who they are and who they know.
“We want this to be a process that is fair to all and we will advertise the portal widely so that applicants will be able to go to the website to fill series of forms and answer certain questions.
‘Base on the data they input and their answers to the questions, the system
will be able to determine appropriately,
whether they are eligible to apply or not, Sawyerr explained.