PUNCH
On Monday, June 12, 2023, the President, Bola Tinubu, signed into law the Student Loan Bill. The bill, which will enable Nigerian students to have access to interest-free loans, was introduced by the outgoing speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The PUNCH reported that the piece of legislation passed second reading at the lower house on May 23, 2023.
With the establishment of an education bank, tertiary institutions owned by the Federal Government may now be at liberty to introduce tuition fees, experts in the higher education sector have argued.
Already, some universities owned by the Federal Government have started announcing an increase in tuition fees. For instance, The PUNCH in December 2022 exclusively reported how some Federal Government-owned universities announced a 200 per cent hike in fees. It is believed that the introduction of the education bank will help address the funding gap in tertiary institutions.
According to the bill, which was sighted by our correspondent on Monday, students applying for loans under this Act must apply to the Chairman of the Bank through their respective institutions upon satisfying of the following conditions:
i. Student must have secured admission into any public Nigerian University, Polytechnic, college of education or any TVET school; Applicant income or family income must be less than N500,000 per annum; Applicant must provide at least two civil servants as guarantors: of not less than level 12 years in service; or a Lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience; a Judicial officer; or a Justice of Peace.
