Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Sawyerr explained that with the admission of about 400,000 new entrants this year, the Fund may anticipate its total number of registrants reaching 2.1 million students.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cFor the people we are responsible for in government-owned tertiary institutions, such as polytechnics, universities, and colleges of education, and the bulk of students who will be coming in for the next session, we have estimated our commitment today to these people is somewhere in the range of 2.1 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an estimate, and it gets bigger than that when we start our skills program. it is because there we have a lot more. We are expecting that about 400,000 students will be starting this new session.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if the Fund would also address the plight of the over 20 million out-of-school children in the country, Sawyerr dismissed the notion.<\/p>\n
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According to him, the loan scheme is strictly for students in tertiary institutions in line with the building principles and law.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the Act that set up NELFund, it is very specific that it is for tertiary education. So, while we recognize that there may be 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, the law only allows us to address those who are studying or about to start the course of tertiary institutions owned by the Federal Government and subnationals.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the rest of the population of students is important. Some of them may eventually come into our purview as they get through their education system. But as of today, by law, we are only able to address those at the tertiary level. We have a two-pronged process. Before anyone can apply for a loan, he has to register with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have about 417,000 students who have registered on our portals and about 328,000 who have applied. Some have been processed, many have been looked at, and most of them will get the loan,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Earlier in her address, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of SERVICOM, Mrs. Nnenna Akajemeli, called for teamwork and cooperation among the inductees to make the student loan process a seamless one for the beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
SERVICOM is a federal government initiative to promote effective and efficient delivery in ministries, departments, and agencies to ensure customer satisfaction and manage performance.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cWherever Nigerian students go, they stand out. So we need to continue encouraging them. It is also our job to build the skills of public servants for excellent service delivery.<\/p>\n
I want to appreciate NELFUND because it has been in constant touch with the SERVICOM office to ensure this program is a success. For you to go fast, you can walk alone. But to go far, NELFUND needs to walk together as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: <\/strong> Punch News\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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