The government has been commended for abolishing ‘universal’ university students’ allowances to introduce a loan scheme for deserving students.
Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe announced the change in Parliament two weeks during the presentation of the 2015/16 national budget a budget.
Executive Director of Civil Society Education Coalition Benedicto Kondowe said that the institution backs the decision on the matter considering the constrained resource base on which the government is operating.
Kondowe, however, advised the government to come up with an independent institution to do the loan disbursement in order to avoid abuse and ensure effective loan recovery.
“As education stakeholders we commend government for the move but what is crucial now is how government will recover the disbursement loans because history shows that government’s effort in recovering such loans has always been very poor,” Kondowe said.
He said credible institution with a good track record in in disbursing and collecting loans should be entrusted.
Kondowe also allayed fears by some quarters that the abolished allowances which are believed to have been a motivating factor to many students will affect quality of education.
“Considering the current national economic challenges it is better that government only comes in to assist the needy students so that those who can afford to pay for their studies should do so on their own,” Kondowe said.
He also advised government to use district councils and ideational leaders in identifying deserving students to benefit from the loans so that it is about abused.
Gondwe announced in Parliament that in the 2015\16 financial year government has set aside a net lending figure of K3 billion to capitalize the Higher Education Students Loan and Grant Scheme.
Government has created the loan scheme to enable deserving students to acquire loans and grants in support of their education,” he said.
Gondwe also said the Ministry of Education was at an advanced stage of operationalizing the scheme.
