Like many of the programmes he initiated in the first year of his administration, President Bola Tinubu's innovative Students Loan Scheme made its epileptic journey to reality with the signing of the executive bill, Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2024, into law in April.
The Act is a great improvement of an earlier effort which had to be withdrawn last year because it was too restrictive. The Act goes beyond tuition alone and covers some other aspects of student welfare. It also accommodates a wider coverage of students in federal and state institutions which do not charge fees, as well as those in vocational training and registered private educational institutions.
Another commendable feature of the scheme is that it removes the restrictions on family income thresholds and guarantor requirements in determining those who qualify. It is a far more inclusive package than the former proposal, and will surely add value to the education system if faithfully and sustainably implemented. With this scheme, any willing and able Nigerian who gains admission into designated tertiary institutions needs not drop out on ground of financial indigence.
While we applaud the president for the courage in extending this dividend of good governance to children of the ordinary Nigerians, we call his attention to the need to provide an enabling economic environment so that beneficiaries can pay back according to the terms of the loan. A situation whereby students graduate from these institutions and remain idle for years, languishing on the unemployment queue, will not only lead to involuntary mass loan defaults, it could easily kill the programme.
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Those who criticise this scheme point out that it adds more burden on a system that has already failed to meet the existing basic needs of our educational system. For instance, the loan scheme does not in any way address the conditions that push the workers' unions of tertiary institutions to strike almost annually. If anything, it could add to reasons for mass actions by the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, if poorly run.
President Tinubu should further reaffirm his commitment to a better educational system by meeting with unions such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU; Non-Academic Union of Universities, NASU; and others, to come up with a comprehensive package of reforms and funding that will address the poor quality of higher education in Nigeria.
The issues of low morale among tertiary education staff due to poor welfare, dilapidated school infrastructure, irrelevant curriculum and the growing insecurity of our educational institutions must be addressed. The quality of education we give our children does not really prepare them for survival, let alone leadership. Majority of our students are just going through the motions and coming out no better than those who did not "smell" the ivory tower.
This must stop.
