The implementation of the Student Loan Scheme will kick off in September, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, David Adejo, said on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said students in public and privately-run institutes will benefit from the scheme.
Adejo told reporters in Abuja that President Bola Tinubu has directed an Inter-Ministerial Committee to work out the modalities for the implementation of the scheme.
President Tinubu had signed into law the Student Loan Bill in fulfillment of one of his campaign promises.
The student loan bill sponsored by the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, provided for interest-free loans to indigent students. The law is expected to facilitate easy access to higher education by indigent Nigerians.
Adejo said President Tinubu has directed the Inter-Ministerial Committee to ensure that the first batch of eligible students begin to access the loan in September.
The permanent secretary dispelled the insinuation that the Federal Government would introduce tuition fees in tertiary institutions because of the new law.
Adejo explained that the government had been working on granting financial autonomy to universities before now.
The permanent secretary also disclosed that the Gazetted Act would be made public after its transmission from the Federal Ministry of Justice.
He said the Federal Government could no longer fund university education alone, adding that it is considering public-private partnership.
The permanent secretary emphasised that government wanted to provide opportunities for every Nigerian child to go to school and live a life of dignity.
He said the defunct Student Loan Board and Nigeria Education Bank collapsed due to leakages, default and mismanagement.
He said: “During the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the former Education Minister Malam Adamu Adamu, asked the ministry to come up with a scheme that will make sure that anybody that wants to go to school, but couldn’t go to school because he or she does not have money would be able to.
“Within that period too, the House of Representatives under the leadership of Femi Gbajabiamila, who is now the Chief of Staff to the President, had sponsored the bill for the establishment of the Student Loan Fund.
“The bill is to make sure that every Nigerian has access to higher education through what we called the Higher Education Nigerian Bank.
“Learning from past mistakes, the bank is not going to be the type that will sit down and be collecting applications for loans. It will also perform normal banking functions and make sure loans are given because we had cases of loan recovery in the past.
“The Act tells us the process, but as I speak with you today, the president has approved the committee made up of the ministries and agencies and their inaugural meeting will come up on 20th of June.
“The president has also directed that between September and October, this 2023/2024 academic session, he wants to see recipients of these loans. So, it is a very serious marching order for us. So, between now and then we have to fine-tune the process for people to get the loan.”
While disclosing that a tracking system would be put in place, the permanent secretary said all applications would be submitted in the individual applicant’s school before getting to the bank for processing.
Adejo said a specialised bank would be created to handle the loan applications.
He said that the loan scheme would not be politicised, adding that the Federal Government will reduce the influence of politicians on the scheme.
Adejo added: “We are not going to use existing banks. We are going to create a new bank that will address this because we can’t use an existing bank.
“We don’t want to make it that only people who want to go to public schools will benefit from the loan, private schools are paying tuition, so you have to give them the opportunity.
“The loan is for you to get an education programme and get employed then you start paying back. The loan recovery does not start until you get employed.”
While commending President Tinubu for the bill, he said: “Our current president today is a job creator from his experience from the private sector and he has given us policy direction and job creation is one of the things he is going to do, even though you cannot create job for everybody.”
