Brown
Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
PROSPECTIVE LEADERS of the next generation believe that the existing policies at the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) are 'ridiculous' and need urgent re-assessment.
"I think the SLB needs major focus and attention. I think their means test that is used to determine whether or not a person qualifies is unreal", said Dr. Christopher Tufton, president of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) affiliate, Generation 2000.
Speaking during a Gleaner Editors' Forum on Youth and the Way Forward on Friday, Dr. Tufton said, "Determining whether or not someone gets a loan based on whether they have running water or pit latrine really to my mind is thinking in a sort of antiquated, ancient way". He added that the process of means testing needs to be examined.
Arnoldo Brown, member of the People's National Party Youth Organisation, echoed similar sentiments, arguing that "The interest rate needs to come down."
He pointed out that "In 1996 when the Government of Jamaica and the commercial banks went into an agreement, the interest rate was about three per cent. You have to go back to that position. The current interest rate of 16 per cent is ridiculous!
"Also, companies that give scholarships, you (Government) can give them a tax break to encourage corporate sponsorships of our tertiary institutions because they are the institutions that are providing leadership not only for Jamaica but for this entire region."
REVAMPED AND APPROACHED
He told The Sunday Gleaner at the end of the forum that the SLB could be revamped and approached in two ways. "You can make it a facility for needy students or you can make it a facility for any student to come and borrow. But in the latter it means that you would have to find the source of funds for all students to expand it in such a way that all students can actually access," he said.
However, he noted that if this approach is taken "you will have to do away with the means test that they currently have".
He said, "It is a revolving loan and clearly students need to honour their debt obligations and to repay their loan because that helps for the sustainability of the loan. You don't want a situation where there is a high degree of delinquency and put the loan in jeopardy.
"But I am of the view that if students borrow from the fund and recognise that it is really to help them to get to the next step and that the interest rate is not onerous then they will be encourage to pay
their loan and do it in a timely manner so that the fund will be sustainable."
He also said that there should be a suspension of interest being charged during the period when students are in school. Instead, he said that the interest should start running when students graduate.
Meanwhile, Devon Wint, president for the youth arm of the JLP Young Jamaica, said that there must be serious changes and reform in respect to how the (SLB) operates and the kind of access that the average young person has.
"At present, less than five per cent of the population attains tertiary level education and that is not sufficient to take us forward in a globalised world," noted Wint.
