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The Bayelsa Government says it will use a portion of its internally generated revenue to fund the newly-established Students Tertiary Education Loan Board.
Governor Seriake Dickson on Tuesday signed into law, a Bill establishing the Bayelsa State Students Tertiary Education Loan Board.
Dickson said shortly after signing the bill, that the board, specially designed to provide unfettered access to tertiary education in the state, would be inaugurated in two weeks.
According to the governor, a percentage of the state’s monthly internally generated revenue would be committed by law to fund the board.
The governor explained that funding of the new board would be similar to the Bayelsa State Education Development Trust Funds.
The education fund was established by law to guarantee the arrangement for free education at the primary and secondary school levels in the state.
Dickson said that the new board was being established with a consciousness to ensure that no Bayelsa youth with the requisite qualification and intent for university or tertiary education was deprived because of lack of funds.
He said: “We have also taken care of the issue of access in another way that I have not heard done in any state in this country.
“We also established the Bayelsa State Student Tertiary Education Loan Board Law. I have signed that bill into law, and in the next one or two weeks I will be setting up that board.
“And just as we dedicated five per cent of the internally generated revenue of our state to the Education Development Trust Fund, the Government of Bayelsa State will also every month, allocate some amount of money that I will announce shortly to the funding of the Student Loan Board.
“Once you have the basic qualifications that will enable you to gain admission into university, either in the University of Africa Toru Orua or in our state-owned Niger Delta University or any other university in Nigeria to be left behind.
“As a responsible government, because we know all fingers are not equal and we do not want any child to be left behind, we are establishing the Students Loan Board. The loan that the board will give will be paid directly to the universities.”
On the arrangement for the repayment of the loan, the governor said that beneficiaries of the loan would be required to repay within 10 to 20 years of graduation after they commence work.
Dickson added that the board, which would be empowered to formulate its policies, would pay for the cost of university education, especially school fees.
He added: “I expect the university to cooperate with the board so that when the students graduate, when they begin to work, they can repay within 10 to 20 years without feeling it. That is the standard across the world.”