IMPLEMENTING THE STUDENT LOANS ACT  

Student loan will help in education financing

The Committee of Vice Chancellors and Registrars of Private Universities in Nigeria (CVCRPUN) has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing into law the Student Loan Bill. “We must continue to build on this foundation, striving to create an environment that nurtures critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and a strong sense of social responsibility,” their chairman, Kabiru Adeyemo, said during the committee’s general assembly in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. But it is not all the stakeholders in the sector that have accepted the act. Predictably, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has picked holes in the idea it has always opposed. “The union will react soon, but everyone knows our position on student loans because you will end up encumbering the children of the poor with loans and debt after graduating,” ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke said.  

Initiated by the former House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila who is now Chief of Staff to President Tinubu, the aim of the Student Loan Act is to provide interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Fund as one of the ways to fund tertiary education in the country. Gbajabiamila had argued that the hardship being experienced by the unemployed and low-income earners coupled with the very high cost of living has made access to quality higher education difficult, stressful and in some cases impossible for many people in the country. We agree with Gbajabiamila. For the sector to attract quality academic and non-academic staff, provide necessary teaching aids, and ensure conducive learning environment for students, the idea of tuition-free tertiary education for all is no longer realistic.   

At the root of this crisis of tertiary education is the lack of an articulated policy on funding. The weak financial conditions of most of our universities are exacerbated by the current crippling economic crisis afflicting the nation. Yet, besides personnel costs, funds are required to rehabilitate dilapidated facilities, purchase consumables and aid research. What ASUU and those who insist on free tuition in our public universities therefore fail to understand is that we cannot continue to train manpower for a free market economy at no cost to parents. Besides, many of the undergraduates in our public universities attended private secondary schools where the fees for one term were usually more than the entire cost of a degree programme in our public university system.    

  In most countries where education is taken seriously, universities explore several ways of raising funds for their operations, without any attempt to reinvent the wheel. The common avenues include donations, endowments, professional chairs, gifts, grants, and consultancy services. Incidentally, the military government of General Yakubu Gowon dealt with the problem at the level of policy. The federal military government had the students’ loans scheme, work study programmes, scholarship schemes for indigent students, grants, etc. There were also bursaries at the level of states. Sadly, all these schemes have either been abandoned or compromised in their execution.     

  Many of our public universities have been conditioned to believe only government should fund them without even seeking the help of their alumni members. Whereas the schools Nigerians attend abroad even for non-degree programmes bombard them with requests for donations with mobilisers and fund managers engaged for that process, Nigerian universities are content with whatever they receive from government. Meanwhile, universities abroad don’t spend more than 40% of their earnings on salaries which are decent. So, what we lack is ambition across the board, including sadly among lecturers.  

The student loan act is just one of a cocktail of ideas that we need to address the challenge of inadequate funding for our tertiary institutions. While the idea is welcome, the real work will come during implementation.