The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has mounted pressure on the government and Student Loan Trust Fund to pay beneficiaries who have qualified for the loans.
The call was a response to complaints by students on the delay of payments of students’ loans by the Student’s Loans Trust Funds, which has been in arrears since the previous semester.
According to a statement released by NUGS, the delay of payment of student loans has left over 70, 000 beneficiaries at risk of deferment in school. The union further called for immediate payment of applicants’ loans to avoid their deferment in school.
“It is unfortunate to also note that last semester arrears have also not been paid, this is a huge problem in the face of the current situation in the country with students facing inability to register and continue their academic activity. At the moment about 70,000 students have applied. It’s even more worrying to note that some institutions have issued notices, warning students of closing registration deadline, an example is University of Business and Integrated Development (UBIDS -WA) amongst others. KNUST is set to write mid-semester exams from 27th of February 2023, it’s unfortunate that several of our student’s risk not being able to write the exams due to inability to pay their fees as a result of non-payment of student loans. We by this statement call on the Student Loan Trust Fund and the Government, to as a matter of urgency, pay qualified applicants of the student loan immediately. Students are at risk of deferring if loans are not paid immediately.”
Meanwhile, Press Secretary for the Union, Emmanuel Yaw Gyimah, explained that prior to the statement, engagements held with the government had proved futile. Speaking to Univers News, he stated that the payment of loans was urgent and needed to be addressed immediately.
“We have engaged the necessary stakeholders, we’ve constantly been engaging with government, that’s in regard to the loan and its disbursement. We’ve waited for quite some time now, and as a matter of urgency, some of our institutions have already reached out to us, stating that most of these students have been on these loans to pay their fees and as it stands now, most of them have not paid their fees. Most of the students rely on the students’ loans to make [school] payments and so it necessitated our call.”
Emmanuel Gyimah stated that NUGS would resort to other measures if their demands are not met on time. He, however, expressed optimism in the upcoming engagements the Union will have with the government.
“We’ve been called for a meeting, and we will engage them soon. What we are going to do is that we are going to take other measures once our demands have not been adhered to. But we are very optimistic that something very positive will come out of this [meeting].”
Read the statement below for more information.
