General News of Thursday, 3 September 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Waiving guarantor requirement is plausible - SLTF CEO

The Fund published the list of defaulters and declared July 2020 Repayment Awareness Month The Fund published the list of defaulters and declared July 2020 Repayment Awareness Month

The Chief Executive Officer of the Students Loan Trust Fund(STLF) Nana Kwaku Agyei Yeboah, has said the scrapping of the guarantor system will create room for more beneficiaries.

Vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has promised that all tertiary students except those in teacher and nursing training institutions will be able to secure loans without a guarantor if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is re-elected.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said the beneficiaries would only need their Ghana Card which will enable them apply for loans to fund their education. He made these statements at the launch of the New Patriotic Party’s manifesto in Cape Coast

This move has generated a lot of controversies as a cross section of Ghanaians believe that the removal will bring about high loan defaulters.

However, speaking on Joy News, CEO of the STLF Nana Kwaku Agyei Yeboah said the no guarantee system is a forward looking policy.

“As a trust, we think the policy is a forward looking one and very pragmatic. The jump that we have made in recovery is not really impacted by the guarantor system. Scrapping the guarantor will open access to the loan scheme”.

“What the guarantor system was doing was to help us to trace defaulters but we have better methods of tracing the borrower than the guarantor”, he added.

The Student Loans Trust Fund (SLTF) was set up by government to give loans to Ghanaian tertiary students who are pursuing programmes in accredited tertiary institutions.

These students must be citizens who have gained admission to pursue undergraduate programmes only.

Recently, the Fund published the list of defaulters and declared July 2020 Repayment Awareness Month and is undertaking various activities nationwide.