EVERY INTERESTED NIGERIAN WILL GO ON TO A PORTAL AND ENGAGE THE APP | SOUTHWEST FIRST ALERT MAGAZINE
He/she will have to put in certain pieces of information, which will make them eligible. It will include their UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination) number and of course their date of birth.
“Further pieces of information include things like their National Identification Number (NIN), which confirms that they are Nigerians.
“The fund is going to come mostly from Nigerian taxpayers. So, it’s for Nigerians.The NINs will help us to verify and qualify them for the loan. Their BVN will also be required.
“This scheme will at some point, be able to empower students so we need to know that they have bank accounts.
“The applicants will also have to provide their admission numbers so that we can firmly establish which institution they are going to because one of the key elements of this is that once we’ve received applications and those applications are approved, the fees or the tuition requirements will be transferred directly to their institutions.
"That in itself has benefits for the institutions. Many students are struggling to pay tuition, their parents are struggling to pay. There’s a very high dropout rate.
“It is one thing to get into a tertiary institution and another to stay there for four or more years. This scheme seeks to help people access and remain in school until they graduate.
“Nigerians are qualified to apply and clearly you know there will be sifting. We are going to highlight those who are mostly in need in the first instance. Education is something that everybody should have a right to.
“The intention of the Act establishing the scheme is to ensure that the reason for one not being able to further his/her education at tertiary level is eliminated.
“The law also seeks to bridge the gap between the desire to study and the capacity to go further.
“This intervention will affect the lives of many Nigerian youths positively. It will impact many Nigerian families because the duty to pay for education falls on parents.”
Explaining further Adedeji said: “This is one of the schemes that we will be applying the Education Tax that we will collect.
“So, this is a way of being accountable to the taxpayer because the essence of Education Tax is to consolidate and restore education integrity and quality.”
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