The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has postponed the launch of the student loans portal initially billed for Tuesday, June 25 by two weeks.
This followed the inability of state tertiary institutions to submit data of students to the agency.
NELFUND revealed that 117 out of 151 state tertiary institutions expected to submit data of the students to the agency, failed to do so.
This represents 77.5 per cent of the total number of state tertiary institutions.
NELFUND spokesman Nasir Ayitogo in a statement said only 34 state institutions have submitted completed data of the students.
“To date, only a limited number of state-owned institutions have completed the data submission process. These include 20 state universities out of 48, 12 state colleges out of 54 and 2 state polytechnics out of 49,” Aitogo said.
He said the application window, initially set to open on June 25, 2024, will now commence on July 10, 2024.
Last week, The Guardian reported that the absence of digital records of students in most schools as well as the lethargic response from most tertiary institutions were slowing down the implementation of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
NELFUND called on all state institutions to expedite their data submission processes and ensure the accuracy of the information provided.
“This decision was necessitated by the failure of several state-owned institutions to upload the required student data and fee information to the NELFUND Student Verification System (SVS),” Ayitogo said.
“While we acknowledge the efforts of these institutions, the failure to submit data from the remaining state institutions poses significant challenges to ensuring a seamless and accurate verification process for student loan applicants.
“This extension will provide additional time for state institutions to comply with the data submission requirements and ensure their students can benefit from the Federal Government student loan scheme.”
The Spokesperson underscored the need for institutions to submit complete data, adding that incomplete or incorrect data submissions will result in application delays and potential disqualification for affected students.
It listed the required data to include JAMB numbers, matriculation numbers, admission numbers, full names, level, faculties, departments, duration of programme, fees and gender of all eligible students.
At a press conference last month, Managing Director/Chief Executive of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed that while students of federal tertiary institutions would access the portal on May 24, those in state schools would commence the process on June 25.
The Fund said about 1.2 million students in public universities are set to benefit from the first phase of the programme, while sources told The Guardian that N35 billion have been earmarked for its take off.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government said it established the loan fund to support indigent Nigerians in their higher education pursuit, while they pay back in instalments, two years, after completing their National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme.
