Government issues Sh140bn in 2018/19 student loans

The deputy permanent secretary in the ministry of Finance and Planning, Ms Amina Shaaban

What you need to know:

The government will continue to extend loans to students in institutions of higher learning and has released Sh.140bn for the 2018/2019 financial year

Arusha. The government has released Sh140.12 billion as loans to students in institutions of higher learning for the 2018/19 financial year.

A total of 40,485 students, who have been enrolled in local universities and allied institutions this year are beneficiaries of the money.

Some 124,000 students are beneficiaries of the loan scheme, the deputy permanent secretary in the ministry of Finance and Planning, Ms Amina Shaaban, said here on Friday.

Ms Shaaban noted that the government would continue to extend loans to young learners to enable them to pursue higher education, which is critical for national development.

“The government will not let down those seeking knowledge and skills,” she said when officiating the 20th graduation ceremony at the Institute of Accountancy in Arusha (IAA).

However, the deputy permanent secretary implored the graduates to ensure that they pay back the loans as per their contract agreements, warning that failure to do so would see them get into trouble.

“The contract you entered into with the government requires that you pay back the loans so they can be extended to other students eligible for the support,” Ms Shaaban said.

The loans have to be paid back to the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB), which is under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

The board announced two months ago that it had allocated Sh427.5 billion for new and continuing students in the 2018/19 financial year.

Ms Shaaban promised that the government would address the shortage of lecture halls and student hostels facing the 27-year-old institution.

“This is a situation facing many state-owned institutions of higher learning such as universities. The government will chip in when it has resources to do so,” she noted.

However, Ms Shaaban urged local universities to use their qualified human resources to raise money through consultancies and available investments in the campuses.

The acting rector, Dr Samwel Werema, said the institute has streamlined its courses from knowledge-based to competence-based.

This, he said, would assist the graduates to meet some of the requirements of the job market where skills and experience are more demanding.

A total of 1,482 students graduated in various certificate, diploma, post graduate diploma, bachelors and masters degree courses, mainly in accountancy, banking, finance, economics, ICT and others.

The IAA has three campuses in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Babati and has a strategic partnership with Coventry University in the United Kingdom.