The Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced that the Federal Government’s current policy of providing interest-free loans to all students will soon be revised.
In a statement made by NELFUND’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, during a virtual conference titled ‘Student Loan Masterclass: Why, What, and How?’, it was revealed that only students pursuing courses in high-demand fields would be eligible for the loans in the future.
Sawyerr explained that the fund would focus on supporting courses that are crucial to the nation’s development, particularly in sectors with abundant job opportunities.
He pointed out that while language courses might be valuable, they were less aligned with the country’s immediate needs compared to fields like engineering and medicine, which offer more practical and applicable skills.
The NELFUND MD emphasized the importance of education that meets the country’s skills gap, particularly in fields that can contribute to the nation’s growth and workforce.
He also noted that courses that provide skills that can be used internationally allowing graduates to send remittances back to Nigeria would still be supported.
So far, over 335,000 students across 127 tertiary institutions have benefited from the student loan initiative.
