NELFUND Hints At Extending Student Loans To Private Institutions

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) may expand its student loan programme to include private universities and colleges in the next two to three years, according to the agency’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr.

Naijaonpoint reports that Sawyerr made this known during a strategic engagement and sensitisation session with heads of institutions and stakeholders in Enugu on Thursday. The campaign also incorporated local dialects to ensure wider understanding and participation in the region.

He stressed the immediate focus remains on supporting students in public institutions due to their urgent needs, with many unable to afford private education or at risk of dropping out entirely.

“We have only been going for one year. We need to really address the public sector first. The students that we see in the public sector don’t even have the option in most cases to go to private sector, and some of them are dropping out. So we want to address that, make sure that we’ve got them covered,” he said.

“And then when we see after a while, I think two, three years maximum, when we see the effect this has had on the generality of youths in Nigeria, we can then do some sort of review to see what it might mean for moving to the private sector segment,” he added.

Addressing some of the challenges NELFUND has faced, Sawyerr pointed out that public perception and technical difficulties have hindered smooth implementation in some areas.

“They just have a normal problem like everybody else has with technology, and then they say, this has been rigged against us. But we’re here. We’re not here to waste our time. We’re here to help the people apply and get institutions to also take part,” he said.

In her remarks, the Special Adviser to the Enugu State Governor on Education Innovation, Dr. Chinyere Onyeisi, highlighted the importance of the loan scheme, urging educational leaders to guide students on how to apply and take advantage of the programme.

“So what the government is doing has an essential role to play in different areas of education. But this NELFUND has to do with the student support system. And it is important for our students in Southeast and Enugu in particular to maximise the opportunity to apply,” she said.

“Because the major takeaway to the teachers, the heads of institutions that are here today is when they go back to their various schools, they are supposed to continue to step down the specialisation programme to make sure that the students understand the procedures, how to apply, and then apply effectively to benefit from this initiative. It’s real. And they are testifying that other states are already benefiting,” Onyeisi added.