AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Higher Education Students’ Loan Board (HESLB) has disbursed to universities over 50 per cent of the amount set aside for loans in 2020/21 academic year, it has been said.
HESLB set aside 464bn/- loans for students in higher learning institutions in 2020/21 and until now 239bn/-, which is equivalent to 51 per cent, has already been disbursed to respective universities.
Speaking at the launch of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Merit Scholarships for Students of High Performance Standards programme, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Prof Joyce Ndalichako, said credit officers at universities were not required to stay with beneficiaries’ funds.
“The government has already provided 51 per cent of the students’ loans allocation. I want loan officers to disburse it to beneficiaries on time. What happened last year shouldn’t happen again,” she insisted.
She said credit officers were not required to stay with beneficiaries’ funds as education loans aimed at helping the beneficiaries on time.
She said the government had increased the budget from 325bn/- in 2019/20 to 464bn/- in 2020/21, but demand was still growing every year.
She urged loan beneficiaries to be honest and repay the loans on time so that it could help others in need of acquiring education.
For his part, UDSM Vice- Chancellor, Prof William Anangisye, said the management of UDSM had supported the efforts of the fifth phase government of the United Republic of Tanzania under the leadership of President John Magufuli in investing in the education of Tanzanian children at all levels of education, including higher education.
He said merit scholarship funds for students with high academic achievements were not something new in most prestigious universities.
He said many scholars presented at UDSM and other universities in Tanzania were the beneficiaries of such a popular system in the world especially in countries like the United States, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, etc.
He said UDSM Merit Scholarships for young Tanzanians with high performance in Form Six science examinations for those who enrolled in undergraduate degrees was their aim to support scientist Tanzanians.
In addition, Tanzanian young people with high performance in the undergraduate degree and who will be selected to join the master’s degrees.
He said in support of the fifth phase government’s efforts to promote Kiswahili internationally, UDSM had established International Kiswahili Scholarships offered to students from African countries.
“This scholarship is for students who want to study proficiency in Kiswahili. During this academic year the facility has provided scholarships for three students – Julius Matovu from Uganda, Daniel Kotey from Ghana, and Vedaste Habumurey from Rwanda,”said prof Anangisye.
In addition, he said UDSM had provided funds for students from South Sudan when they wanted to study for a bachelor’s degree in Kiswahili at UDSM.
He said the implementation awaited the completion of an agreement between the governments of Tanzania and South Sudan on the implementation of the previous agreement to teach Kiswahili in South Sudan.
He said funds for foreign students were covered in Chapter Three of the 2020 CCM manifesto.
