As the Students Loan portal opens on May 24, 2024, the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), has disclosed that the scheme would take off with only students of the federal government’s tertiary institutions.
NELFUND said students of state-owned institutions will not be immediate beneficiaries when the scheme kicks off
This was made known by the Managing Director of the Fund, Akintinde Sawyerr, during a media conference on Monday in Abuja.
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Sawyerr noted that only students whose institutions uploaded their data on the fund’s dashboard would be qualified to benefit from the loan.
Besides, Sawyerr said the loan would not be paid to the beneficiary account, explaining that the loan would be paid directly to the schools where the beneficiary students are studying.
He, however, said certain stipends would be paid directly to beneficiaries monthly to assist them buy other things that can make them comfortable while pursuing their education.
He added that a vocational skills acquisition programme will soon be established for students as part of its mandate.
“We will soon begin a programme for non-provision for those who want to acquire vocational skills or vocational qualifications. But the first beneficiaries of this loan are students of federal institutions, at all levels. It will be for students of all government institutions going forward,” he said.
He explained that the loanees are expected to repay the loans two years after they secured jobs, either in government private or self-employed.
Sawyerr said the fund would work with security agencies to ensure that students don’t abuse the programme, hinting that those with criminal intentions would be fished out by the security agencies.
