Following the approval of N32 billion by the Federal government, the Student Loan Scheme officially kicked off on Wednesday. The agency running the scheme, the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) disclosed that it received 103,000 successful applications.
President Bola Tinubu presented the dummy cheques that were reportedly given to students and some vice-chancellors by symbolically kick-starting the scheme. An innovative move, the Student Loan Scheme is aimed at making loans available to indigent students or those unable to afford their fees to prevent them from dropping out of school.
“No student will drop out of school again just because he has no means to pay the fee,” President Tinubu declared while unveiling the scheme.
According to the information made available to newsmen, 164,000 students were registered between May 25 when the portal opened and July 17, and the tuition of the beneficiaries will be paid directly to the institution and successful applicants will get stipends.
