Student loan doesn’t solve our tertiary institutions, says Group

Kunle Sanni

The Federal Government should enhance funding for public tertiary institutions while enforcing the student loan policy, according to policy think-tank Agora’s recommendations.

In June 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed into law the first iteration of the student loan programme, which allowed students to take out interest-free loans.

The programme was supposed to start in October 2023, but it kept getting delayed until it was re-enacted in April 2024.

The loan application and issuance portal will start on May 24 according to a new schedule announced by the National Education Loan Fund (NELFund).

A former minister of sports and youth development, Bolaji Abdullahi has suggested to the federal government that they reconsider their priorities.

 “Loan or tuition does not substitute for government allocation. But the funding system should be based on per-student costing which should also reflect changes in operating costs on an annual basis.” Abdullahi said in a report published by The Cable newspaper Thursday.

“Using the per-student costing approach will ensure that our higher institutions have adequate funding to deliver quality education and greater value to the students and the country.”