Students loan scheme may not work if conditions are not reviewed — ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has doubted the feasibility of the proposed student loan scheme of the Federal Government.

President Bola Tinubu administration had set September 2023 for the implementation of the scheme.

But speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Sunday, the ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke, said there was no evidence to show that the policy would work.

The union leader also lampooned the government over the stringent conditions attached to the loan, saying that most students could not afford the scheme.

“When you are talking about student loans, you have to be comprehensive. There is nothing to show that it would work.

“There is a need for a review. Check what happened in the past and see how we can move forward. But for us, our idea is that instead of calling it a loan, let us call it a grant.

“If you look at the conditions, 90 per cent of the students will not have access to that loan. The condition that you must have parents who earn less than N500,000 per annum [is harsh]. How many people earn less than N500,000 per annum?,” he asked.

Mr Osodeke also warned that 40 to 50 percent of students would leave school in the next two to three years if the federal government fails to stop the arbitrary increment in school fees.

“Today, universities are arbitrarily increasing school fees. Is that correct in an environment today where the minimum wage is N30,000 per month, when you have to pay rent, pay heavily for transportation and you are enforcing it on the students?.

“If nothing is done about these heavy fees being introduced by schools all over the country, in the next two or three years, more than 40 to 50 per cent of these children who are in school today will drop out,” he added.

Related