Funding education

WELCOME CHANGE is ahead for poor, ambitious students in search of funds for higher education. The announcement by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke that the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) will no longer require borrowers to provide guarantors could give comfort to scores of students who want to achieve tertiary qualifications.

Removal of the guarantor requirement was promised by Prime Minister Andrew Holness earlier this year, and is now set to become a reality by April. With this one procedural hurdle removed, the way will be clear for more students to enrol in college.

Students on the government’s poverty reduction initiative, known as, Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH), were thrown a lifeline out of poverty last year when they were told it was no longer necessary to have a guarantor to access an SLB loan. Dr Clarke said that the enrolment of PATH students in colleges and universities soared by 185% since that announcement.

It has long been recognised that higher education was the key to escape from the trap of generational poverty for many families as they emerged from the slavery experience. But, even though loans have been available through the SLB, those without connections found it difficult, sometimes impossible, to come up with two persons who could guarantee their borrowings.

DISAPPOINTING

For this and a variety of other reasons, less than 30 per cent of Jamaicans have acquired tertiary-level training. This is disappointing, for every Jamaican government has expressed the goal to provide affordable, quality education for its people. They may take different routes, undertake different reforms, hire different consultants even, but they have all expressed that desire. Sadly, the cost of tertiary education keeps rising and out of the reach of bright, young adults.

For a country seeking to exploit its human capital, it is critical that more people become equipped with the skills and knowledge required to participate in the social and economic activities which are designed to push the country forward.

So we applaud the prime minister’s announcement that more than 20,000 students will benefit from free tuition at public universities in the current year. Already, college students who are majoring in STEM subjects have been offered scholarships to acquire these critical skills to stimulate and accelerate national development goals.

This is reminiscent of Michael Manley’s free education initiative in the 1970s, which brought beneficiaries from all across Jamaica. First generation rural folk, inner-city students and others were able to enrol in tertiary programmes which produced the bulk of an eager workforce in the professions, management, arts and the civil service.

Financing tertiary education is a big issue. Sources of higher education financing comprise government input, revolving loans, scholarships, bursaries, subsidies and welfare funding. Of course, a student loan is never just about a loan. It impacts the economy, families and businesses.

With all that has been said, we cannot stress enough that a loan is a serious financial obligation. Beneficiaries must understand that, by not repaying their loans, they are shutting the door of opportunity on someone else. There is a moral side to debt, and a student loan is an investment in the borrower’s future. The SLB offers a maximum loan of $6 million to full-time students, with up to 12 years to repay.

For sure, the Corona virus created difficulties for all sectors and would have affected students’ ability to repay their loans. Those who are employed and have the ability to pay back their loans should do so – it’s the right thing.