Senate approves 2024 Student Loan Act
The Senate has approved the student loan Access to Higher Education Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill of 2024.
The bill’s passage came after a thorough review of a report by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), presented by Sen. Mohammed Muntari from Katsina South.
Last week, the bill successfully passed its second reading following President Bola Tinubu’s request to repeal the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Bill and replace it with a new one.
The newly approved act aims to improve the implementation of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme by addressing various challenges related to the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), applicant eligibility criteria, loan purposes, funding sources, as well as disbursement and repayment procedures.
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Tinubu’s action came after the announcement of a temporary suspension of the commencement of the student loan system. The law was put in place to allow Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access low-interest loans to complete their studies.
A motion compelling the need to tackle the challenge of out-of-school children in Nigeria, sponsored by Sen. Adebule Oluranti representing Lagos West, was also debated.
In a lead debate, Sen Oluranti argued on the need to cause a drastic reduction of the current number of out-of-school children, pegged according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) statistics, at 20 million.
Some other lawmakers like Sen. Oshiomhole enjoined the senate, to compel the appropriate agency to publish the percentage of out-of-school children in each state, particularly to expose defaulting state governments, who through a misplacement of priorities, have continued to endanger the collective wellbeing of citizens.
In its resolution, the Senate asked the judiciary in all 36 states, to set up mobile courts for the enforcement of the Universal Basic Education (UBE)Act.
It also mandated its committee on education, to engage with the Ministry of Education on the issue of out-of-school children, to reduce their number, and set a time limit of two years for the implementation of the UBE Act.
