‘Fund the loans board!’

Educationists are calling on the treasury to adequately fund the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) as a means of bridging the existing funding gap.

The board is reporting a K4 billion shortfall to fully support about 30,000 approved applications for the 2024/2025 loans and grants cycle, a situation the critics describe as alarming.

In an earlier interview with Capital FM, Higher Education Minister Jessie Kabwira asked the board to explore innovative ways to manage funds and recover loans effectively.

Meanwhile education analysts are insisting that government needs to take a leading role in resolving the issue.

Malawi University of Applied Sciences (MUBAS) based education analyst, Victor Chikoti weighed in on the matter saying: “I want to urge government to find means to bail out these students who should not be denied their right to education at this point in time.”

Chikoti further extended his wish to the institutions of higher learning to craft deliberate mechanisms such as endowment funds which will help support needy and vulnerable students who cannot support themselves financially.

“I also take the same appeal to higher education institutions. There are some institutions that have endowment trusts that have arrangements to support needy students, probably to activate their systems and ensure that indeed not even one student drops out of university or higher education because of lack of support.”

Education specialist, Ben Navicha also shared his comment on the matter and said: “I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but I have to urge the government to look into this problem immediately.”

“If at all possible, I should ask the government to let the tuition be remote in every institution so that the government itself should be shortening the payment of the tuition in different government institutions. Otherwise, we are doomed.” Navicha said.

The HESLGB board officials said they initially had hoped that the deficit from the approximately 29.4 billion kwacha that was required would be availed during last September’s 2024/2025 mid-year budget review, a development that did not materialise.