Scores
of university students will be forced to drop out because of
prolonged delay of loans to cover tuition and other expenses.
The development comes in the wake of last week’s announcement by
the High Education Students’ Loan Board (HESLB) that it issued loans to
over 40,000 students out of 50,830 applications received in 2015/16
academic year.
However, the payment only covered new students but skipped all together the majority of continuing students.
In separate interviews, a cross-section of students from different
universities blamed the loans facility of being “too selective” and
giving little consideration to continuing students.
Charles Alphonce, a second year student at Mzumbe University, told
The Guardian that he had all the required qualifications to secure a
loan yet he had being left out.
“This is the third time I am applying for a loan and I have never got any luck,” he lamented.
“I can’t understand what’s wrong with my applications,” he said
with the sad acknowledgment that, “...should I fail to get the loan this
time around I will have to postpone my classes.”
Alphonce who comes from a poor family background said he has been
struggling to raise funds for his studies but due to increasing costs he
may be forced to drop out.
Another student from the University of Science and Technology
(MUST) Mbeya Campus, Samuel Hosea shared a similar experience and
appealed to the board to treat all eligible loan applicants fairly
without bias.
Hosea also called upon the board to give special consideration to
students from outside the campus regions who have to go out of pocket to
survive while waiting for the loans that may not come at all.
Chairman of the Ministers of Loans in High Education in Tanzania,
Shitindi Venance, said the gravity of the problem is such that only 400
students of 6,000 eligible students at the University of Dar es Salaam
received their loans in their first year.
Expressing profound dismay over the exclusion of continuing
students, Venance said numerous continuing students have not being
considered for the loan and remain in dilemma.
“The government should be transparent in issuing of loans because
the money is not given to the students as an offer but as a loan which
will later be repaid,” he said.
He challenged the 30, 000/- fees charged for every application made
by students and asked the loan facility to reconsider the amount to
accommodate more applications.
HESLB Assistant Director of Communication, Education and
Information, Cosmas Mwaisoba said the continuing students who applied
for loans for the first time will be treated as are the first year
applicants.
Students who have received loans so far are 40,836 students and the loan amount is pegged at 155.2bn/-.
0 comments:
Post a Comment