Students Loan expands horizon

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) Nana Kwaku Agyei Yeboah has stated that his institution is collaborating with Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to serve as diversified guarantors for both public and private tertiary students who apply for its facility.

The SLTF is an agency under the Ministry of Education (MOE) established in December 2005 under the trustee Incorporation Act 106 of 1962.

The SLTF is currently operating under Act 820 of 2011 which mandates it to disburse loans to accredited public or private tertiary institutions.

In accordance with this mandate, the SLTF is to provide financial resources and sound management of the Fund for the benefit of students pursuing accredited programmes while inspiring national ideals enshrined in Article 25 and 38 of the constitution.

Speaking during an orientation course held for the MMDCEs at the Local Government Studies Institute (LGSI) at Ogbojo, Accra on Tuesday, the CEO indicated that the decision to collaborate with MMDCEs and their respective assemblies was borne out of reports he gathered after interacting with heads of tertiary institutions among other stakeholders from fourteen SLTF zonal offices in the country.

“The recommendation from my interactions with the key personalities were very useful for reasons that the SLTF was not visible enough for students, especially, those in deprived communities coupled with the difficulty in identifying Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributors to endorse their loan application forms,” he disclosed.

According to him, the expanded approach to collaborate with MMDAs is a win –win engagement which has the advantage to lessen the pressure on the use of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for scholarships adding that it is also a platform for the development of a pool of work force within the assembly.

Assuring the MMDCEs that his outfit is ready to attend to their needs also mentioned that the SLTF currently has twenty-five districts from seven regions who are active players in this new arrangement.

The Ashanti Akyem South DCE, Alexander Frimpong who spoke to the DAILY GUIDE commended the managers of the SLTF for the initiative which according to him will also create a data base of graduates for the assemblies which they can depend on in the future for their manpower needs.