- Phenomenal.com.ng editorial
Students of private universities are missing out in the Federal Government’s newly launched student loan the way their institutions are excluded from the interventions of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Dr. Akintunde Sawyerr, confirmed the latest decision in Abuja on Wednesday when the disbursement was launched in the presidential Villa.
He said students of private institutions were excluded from the scheme because they charged more expensive school fees, adding that if the government funded private university students, it would be unable to meet the expectations of the initiative.
As understandable as the argument sounds, some stakeholders are not likely to reason with the government and we at Phenomenal, indeed, believe the conclusion may be hasty.
The reason is that while TETFund’s money is for the private institutions, NELFUND’s is for individual students.
Secondly, by denying the private university students the loan, they appear to have been denied a right enjoyed by their counterparts in the public. In other words, it may be a matter of equal right – not class.
Also, it is not too safe to conclude that all the students in private varsities are from rich homes that do not not need the loan.
The irony is further that well-to-do- people also have children in public universities, with the opportunity open for them to access the loan.
Indeed, many parents struggle to get their children in and struggle hard throughout their schooling. So, such undergraduates and their parents too need the support.
It is, thus, the hope of Phenomenal.com.ng that the Federal Government will, as soon as possible, bring relevant undergraduates of private universities into the NELFund’ net.
