22 beneficiaries of student loan default in repayment

A total of 22 people have defaulted in the repayment of loans advanced to them by the Student Trust Loan Fund.

The defaulters are beneficiaries who have traveled the maximum loan duration of 16 years.

CEO of the Student Trust Loan Fund, Sheila Nah-Boamah, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, Thursday, to answer to queries raised by the Auditor-General in his 2014 audited report of the Fund said for such beneficiaries the full amounts with interest will be deducted from pensions of their guarantors.

This, she noted, is line with Section 19 of the Students Loan Trust Fund Act, 2011, Act 820.

She said it is only in the event of the death of a beneficiary student that the loan is written off.

Total loans recovered during the year under the review amounted to GH?1,983,869.07, representing 36% of the total amount due for recovery.

The Fund, she said, currently manages a portfolio of 41,310 beneficiaries. Out of this figure, a total of 10,766 beneficiaries are at various stages of repaying the loan while 1,028 have completed the repayment.

The loan application process allows beneficiaries to enjoy a two (2) year grace period after school and before repayment commences.

In the repayment phase, beneficiaries are given double the numbers of years spent in school and therefore final repayments can travel up to sixteen (16) years after the first disbursement.

Beneficiary students earn between GHC630.00 and GHC1,600.00 per annum depending on their economic and social needs.