Just in: Senate Passes New Student Loan Bill 2024

The Senate has passed the Student Loan, Access to Higher Education, Bill 2024.

This followed the consideration of the report of the Senate committee on tertiary institutions and TETFUND.

The chairman of the committee, Sen. Muntari Dandutse, presented the report during plenary.

Persecondnews recalls that last week, President Bola Tinubu transmitted the bill to the National Assembly for its consideration and passage.

The Red Chamber had given the bill an accelerated hearing by suspending relevant sections of its standing rules and referring the bill to the Committee of the Whole House for consideration.

The new bill will enhance the implementation of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme by addressing challenges related to the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), applicant eligibility requirements, loan purpose, funding sources, disbursement, and repayment procedures.

In a lead debate, Sen. Oluranti argued for the need to cause a drastic reduction in the current number of out-of-school children, pegged according to United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) statistics at 20 million.

Some other lawmakers, like Sen. Oshiomhole, enjoined the Senate to compel the appropriate agency to publish the percentage of out-of-school children in each state, particularly to expose defaulting state governments, who, through a misplacement of priorities, have continued to endanger the collective wellbeing of citizens.

In its resolution, the Senate asked the judiciary in all 36 states to set up mobile courts for the enforcement of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act.

It also mandated its committee on education to engage with the Ministry of Education on the issue of out-of-school children, reduce their number, and set a time limit of two years for the implementation of the UBE Act.