By Dorica Mtenje
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-University of Malawi Student Association (UNIMASA) leadership has asked the Ministry of Finance to revise the upkeep loan provided by the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB).
UNIMASA disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, February, 20, 2022 signed the association’s president, Charles Thole.
According to Thole, the upkeep loan provided by the board is inadequate and
Contact and dialogue between the two has not been fruitful.
Since the time the loans board was constituted, the upkeep loan amount has remained at MK 200, 000.
Thole said despite the acknowledgment by the chancellor of the institution that the upkeep allowance does not meet the upkeep demands of the students in the prevailing economic climate, nothing has been done to change that.
He added that due to the financial inadequacy, more bright students are withdrawing from learning institutions on financial grounds than any other ground hence the association can no longer keep a blind eye on the matter.
The Association has asked the Minister responsible to revise the budgetary allocation to HESGLB to an amount commensurate with students demand for upkeep allowances to be increased to MK480 000 or thereabout per academic year.
Thole revealed that if the ministry pays no attention to the request will mobilize University of Malawi Students alongside their colleagues from every public university to demonstrate against this continued neglect of the plight of the needy but deserving students .
2022-2023 budgetary allocation to the HESGLB remains at MK9 billion which is the same figure that the ministry of finance allocated to the board in last year’s national budget.
