The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has called on the Federal Government to subsidize cost of education instead of the loans it is proposing to give to students that they do not know how to pay pack.. Senate President of the NANS, Henry Okuomo, gave the advice today Friday while granting interview on Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily.
Okuomo insisted that a reduction in the overall cost of education would go a long way to Nigerian students, as against loans that may not be paid back due to the high rate of unemployment in the country after graduation.
In his statement, “For now, we don’t know who the beneficiaries of those loans are. We don’t know those who have applied for the loans and the modalities of getting the loans because it is not even accessible to some students.
“We know those who have tried getting the loans that couldn’t get it. We have reached out to NELFUND on the issue but haven’t been able to get feedback.
“Apart from the loan, we propose that instead of giving loans to the students, the government should reduce the cost of education.
“They should bring down the cost being paid by tertiary institutions to between N20,000 and N50,000. This will allow anybody to be able to access education if the fee is affordable. But now, even with the loan that they are giving us, we do not know the modalities for payment.
“Is it this country now that a graduate is not able to get a job that a loan will be paid back to the government?
President Bola Tinubu’s upon taking over of the government has promised to provide education loan to Nigerian student which led to the creation of NELFUND and have since commence the implementation of the scheme.
Recalls, the president introduced the fund when he signed the Access to Higher Education Act, which creates a legal framework for granting loans to indigent or low-income Nigerians to facilitate the payment of their fees in Nigerian tertiary institutions.