Kampala Students who wanted to apply for government’s higher education loans will have to wait a little longer after MPs ordered that the planned application process be suspended until Parliament passes a law on the loan scheme. Trouble started after it emerged that even before the Higher Education Students Financing Bill, 2013 which was tabled in Parliament last week, is passed into law, Ministry of Education officials were in the process of calling for applications for the loans. The legislators on the Parliament’s Education Committee chaired by Ms Sylvia Namabidde declared the application forms drafted by a students’ loan taskforce “illegal”. The MPs argued that asking students to apply for loans without the law in place, will be “putting the cart before the horse”. Members of the taskforce on the Students Loan Scheme led by Ms Elizabeth Gabona, the director higher, technical, vocational education and training admitted that the government was struggling to come up with a “dependable” method that will ensure that the money given to students is recovered. They asked the committee to help. Mr Micheal Wanyama, the coordinator for students’ loan scheme, said in the absence of the national IDs they decided to engage the Ministry of Internal Affairs to see whether they can issue ID numbers to students who want to get loans. He said if that fails, they will contact Uganda Revenue Authority to issue applicants with tin numbers. “We are networking with National Social Security Fund, Ministry of Public Service and Uganda Revenue Authority for the purpose of tracking the loans,” Mr Wanyama said. The government is proposing that after one year, the students should be able to pay back 30 per cent of the money and that in case of the unemployed beneficiaries they can request the board to reschedule their repayment period. The legislators led by Ms Susan Amero (Amuria Woman MP) and Joseph Ssewungu (Kalungu West) wondered how government would be able to track students who go out of the country in search for greener pastures. Mr Ssewungu said: “The repayment procedure must be clear so as to stop the loss of the funds.” Ms Gabona said the quota system has been working even in the absence of the national IDs, adding that the ministry intends to work with ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs to track the defaulters during the renewal of passports and visas. The committee dismissed her explanation, saying in a country where foreigners possess Uganda passports and other vital documents it may be difficult to get the money back. Ms Namabidde said the committee would come up with a suitable recovery procedure.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 03:22:17 +0000
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