FG Reveals First Beneficiaries Of Student Loan Scheme

The Federal Government has announced that federal institutions will be the first beneficiaries of the student loan scheme, which will commence next week.

Truetells Nigeria reported earlier that the student loan scheme, as announced by President Bola Tinubu’s government, will commence on May 24th.

Giving an update on the initiative, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Swayerr, noted that the loan will be in phases.

Swayerr, who spoke during an interview with Arise Television on Friday (today), maintained that the loan application portal would be opened on the 24th of May, as earlier declared.

According to him, the government has made arrangements for a sensitization campaign so as to educate Nigerians on how the scheme will work.

The MD further explained that the student loan scheme seeks to bridge the financing gap for Nigerian students, enabling them to become more resourceful and eventually aiding the country.

He said, “On the 3rd of April 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law a monumental act that seeks to bridge the financing gap for applicants who want to get a higher education that is tertiary level; and who wants to get vocational training to get proper qualifications that enables them to be more marketable and useful to the Nigerian society.

“The fund covers 100 percent of all the fees of tertiary institutions. There’s also upkeep for the student.”

He stressed that the first phase will focus on public institutions, as there are a large number of students in that sector who require financial aid.

“We’re going to roll this plan out in phases. The first phase will be with federal institutions, then with others. It’s going to be the public sector at the beginning because that’s where we find the bulk of students who perhaps need the financing coverage and are most vulnerable.

“We have a system that hopefully makes this have national spread and some degree of equal opportunities for those who have the desire, capacity, eligibility to engage in this scheme,” he said.