Students’ Loan: Reps warn Tertiary Institutions against school fees increment

Students’ Loan: Reps warn Tertiary Institutions against school fees increment

By Christiana Ekpa

The house of Representatives has asked public tertiary institutions in the country not to take advantage of the Students Loans and Access to Higher Education in Nigeria act to increase their tuition fees.

The House resolution followed a motion moved by a member from Benue state, Terseer Ugbor at the Thursday plenary.

Hon. Ugbor disclosed that the use of students loans and educational credit schemes in most countries of the world

is often justified on the grounds that it guarantees greater access to higher education for the less privileged citizens and is further predicated on the notion that education is an investment in human capital.

He observed that while the objectives and intention of the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2023 are patriotic, there are several critical omissions and identifiable bottlenecks that would stultify or frustrate the successful implementation of the Act if immediate further legislative action is not taken to ensure its efficient implementation.

“The house notes that while financial support from family members and relatives is often considered a traditional source for funding higher education globally, recent trends in the past sixty years indicate that governments in both developed and developing countries have in place various Students loan and Educational Credit Schemes to enable students to borrow towards the funding of higher

education.

“Also aware that after several years of unsuccessful attempts by successive administrations to introduce students loans, scholarships and other educational credit schemes, the 9th National Assembly passed the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2023 which was recently signed into law by the President to provide the legal and institutional framework for implementation of a Students Loan Scheme in the country.

Adopting the motion, the House resolved to constitute an Adhoc Committee to convene a Legislative summit on students loans and access to higher education with all stakeholders in the education sector.