The executive secretary of the Student Loan Board, Akintunde Sawyerr, has said the new education loan fund will utilise a fully automated application process.
He disclosed this to State House correspondents yesterday alongside the executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zaccheus Adedeji, after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
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Sawyerr stated that applicants will submit information such as their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) number, National Identity Number (NIN), and Bank Verification Number (BVN) through an online portal without any human intervention.
He said the tuition fees will then be transferred directly to the institutions once the applications are approved.
He said, “What I want to say to you is that this has been done with a lot of thought. So in the application and in applying for this loan, there is zero human intervention. In other words, there is an app.
“The applicant will go on to a portal; they will engage with that app. They will have to put in certain pieces of information which made them eligible, what is their JAMB number, and of course, the tie in to that date of birth.
“Further pieces of information include things like their national identity number, NIN, which confirms they are Nigerians; this loan scheme is being paid for by Nigerian tax payers.
“So, it’s for Nigerians, and the NIN helps verify and qualify them as such. Their BVN, financial inclusion, because this scheme in itself will at some point be able to empower students, so we need to know they have bank accounts.
“We need to know where their accounts are to be able to access those accounts.
“It will also have their matric number, admission number so that we can firmly establish which institution they are going to, because one of the key elements of this is that once we’ve received applications and those applications are approved, the fees or tuition requirements in terms of financials will be transferred directly to the institution.
“That in itself has benefits for the institution. Many students are struggling to pay their fees, and their parents are struggling to pay their fees.
“There’s a very high dropout rate. So, it’s one thing to get into a tertiary institution. It’s another thing to stay there for four years or for three years. This scheme seeks to help people access and remain until they qualify or graduate.”
Sawyerr explained that once applicants input eligibility information like their national ID number and exam credentials, their submissions will be evaluated digitally.
He explained that the loan scheme will help bridge the gap between the desire to pursue higher education and the capacity to finance it.
According to Sawyerr, the scheme will prioritize supporting the neediest applicants in the first instance.
However, he emphasized that education is a right for all Nigerians, adding that the fund aims to make education accessible.
On his part, the FIRS chairman noted that the loan fund fulfills President Tinubu’s promise to make education accessible to all Nigerians.
He added that it will be funded through education tax collected by FIRS.
“This is in fulfillment of Mr. President’s promise that we will make education accessible to all. And while I have to put my own because of the source of funding.
“This is one of the schemes that will apply education tax that we will collect. So, this is a way of being accountable to the taxpayer. Because the essence of education tax is to consolidate and restore education integrity and quality.
“And in fulfilling that part of the Act, so, that is why education tax fund is one of the sources of funding by God’s grace that we’ll use actually to execute this laudable programme,” he added.