ZANZIBAR government will increase budget allocation to Zanzibar Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (Z HESLB) to enable more Zanzibaris to pursue tertiary education.
Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training Simai Mohammed Said told the House of Representatives yesterday that the board had also been using recovered loans to increase loan issuance to new students.
The deputy minister said the government had already spent over 6 2bn/- on students’ loans in higher learning institutions and had urged loan beneficiaries and their guarantors to repay them on time for others to benefit as well.
Mr Mohammed was responding to Paje Representative Jaku Hashim Ayoub, who wanted to know the government’s strategy to increase budget allocation to the Z HESLB in the coming fiscal year.
The legislator decried inadequate budget allocation to the loans board, describing the current allotment of 10.2bn/- as too little to meet growing demand due to an increase in the number of needy students.
The deputy minister said the loan board planned to construct its headquarters, hinting that the project’s initial works, including drawings, cost estimates and preparations for bid documents, had started under the Zanzibar Building Authority.
