The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said it would publish the full list of institutions that have submitted their complete student data as requested by the agency for upload onto the NELFUND Student Verification System to allow for transparency.
NELFUND said on Thursday that the list would be published on
June 24, 2024. The publication of the list would also encourage due access and
participation in the scheme, of both undergraduate applicants and the tertiary
institutions involved.
Nasir Ayetogo, head of media, NELFUND, in a statement, said,
“It is commendable that many federal institutions have already completed the
exercise, whilst the process of uploading the data to NELFUND SVS is currently
ongoing for state-owned institutions
‘For applicants to be able to access the fund, the
individual’s details must feature in the institution’s submitted data set sent
to the NELFUND SVS, where automatic applicant verification can then occur
seamlessly.
“Failure to have this verification would invalidate the
application process and disadvantage applicants. It is therefore critical that
the information provided by the tertiary institutions is not only complete but
also accurate,” the Fund said.
President Bola Tinubu, on April 3, signed the Student Loans
(Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into
law.
The assent was sequel to the separate considerations by both
the Senate and the House of Representatives of the report of the committee on
tertiary institutions and the tertiary education trust fund.
The executive bill titled, ‘A bill for an Act to repeal the
Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2023 and Enact the Student
Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2004 to Establish the Nigerian
Education Loan Fund, as a body to receive, manage and invest funds to provide
loans to Nigerians for higher education, vocational training and skills
acquisition and related matters,’ was signed in the presence of the leadership
of the National Assembly, ministers and major stakeholders of education.
The Act empowers the Nigeria Education Loan Fund to provide
loans to qualified Nigerian students for tuition, fees, charges and upkeep
during their studies in approved public tertiary institutions and vocational
and skills acquisition establishments in the country.