The University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU) has hailed government for the progress in has made regarding the scrapping of the national student’s bursaries scheme and replacing by the student’s loan facility which will carter for a large number of vulnerable students.
UNZASU president Ali Tankara told ZANIS in an interview yesterday that the move will instil a sense of responsibility in beneficiaries as they will have the onus to pay back the loan.
Mr. Tankara said the loan scheme will benefit a cross section of students ranging from freshmen to in-service students and others wishing to undertake advanced programmes.
He said the current bursaries scheme disadvantages other students who may not be orphaned but are vulnerable as it provided for only students who qualify by means of being orphaned.
Mr. Tankara said the loan scheme will also help improve the standard of the education system not only to students but to the country as a whole.
Last year, government announced that it would scrap off the national students’ bursaries scheme and replaced it by the students’ loan facility.
Government yesterday reported that it has made progress in this area and that the facility will be effective in June this year.
Meanwhile, the UNZASU president has expressed happiness towards government’s completion of renovation works of students’ hostels at the country’s highest institution of learning.
He was optimistic that through the ongoing Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative that will see the creation of 10,000 bed spaces, government will be able to permanently address the student accommodation crisis.
The University of Zambia has for a long time been facing accommodation challenges which the current government is trying to address.
ZANIS
The loan facility sounds good on paper but how sustainable is it? How will it be implemented and how will it be repaid? I do not know how this student loan facility will differ from bursaries, because at my time, all students on bursary signed bonding forms with the government which required us to serve if not mistaken 2 to 4 years. You can correct me on years. I think before the Govt rushes to start this wonderful and well intentioned programme, they need to carry out a study and also consult other stakeholders on how best to implement it. Will these loans require collateral, and if so then only the rich will benefit. Let the Govt spell out how it will be done so that they can have input from the general public. Loans are a trick issue and many a times they are denied. Modalities please!!
Spot on. The number of we were tied to government was equal to the number of years you were sponsored for. And UNZA’s Staff Development program demanded that you work for one and half times the time of aponsorship. In the other words the two schemes assred employment. At the moment it is very difficult to have someone employed because there are no jobs. To pay back for a loan you need a job. So you can that Mr. Tankara needs some education.
Certainly the whole procedure of getting a loan will be the same as that used by the bursaries, may be if the same personnel will be involved. Thus current problems in bursaries procedure will taken into the new system. And the One Party system will oly help its cadres.
Consult which other stakeholders on what? Do you need a national conference on everything, then what’s the work of Ministries? This loan scheme is not a new one it’s been tried and tested elsewhere and it works. I suppose just like in other countries where this is done you don’t start servicing the loan until you’ve found a job.
Chaps, loans were introduced in the 2004 academic year, just say the scheme is being widened. Check your facts before you publish your stories, or even the the UNZASU president does not know he is on a loan scheme?
i should think ali is a completely new chap at the institution and doesn’t know what gdtgp talking about.thought this story is ancient or something. and how do you say for the loan when you don’t have a job,?
And some still say the PF government isn’t working? They must be blind. How many years have the student hostels at UNZA remained dilapidated? How long have students suffered under an unfair Bursaries scheme? But in one year of PF leadership, we can see these issues resolved. Next, the PF leadership should short out that UNZA Library. the last time I checked, I wasn’t impressed. Viva PF.
they are working!! but too many changes)) Remember too much of anything is dangerous!! Soon at UNZA will be professors teaching maths and sciences in local languages!! i do not know that if the language will be tongp Tunbuka of Benba!!
is it pf who started the renovation of students hostels you fool? which country do u live in?
Kalonga thats is what i called good observation.I do not understand why people still have thick minds which cannot reason properly. I thought those renovations came about sometime in RB’s tenture.(And they should know that it was because of Zone six games).
RB failed to host the all Africa Games reserving the money for his and his familys pockets. His selfishness made us miss the opportunty to improve alot of infrastructure including UNZA hostels and sports facilities. I wish PF was in GVT that time as we they would of done even better if what they have achieved in this regard is anything to go by.
Since 2004 the bursaries at unza have been loan schemes and not grants What would be new is modality of how to recover the money considering grz has no jobs for the youth. The story is somehow acient to as far as unza and cbu are concerned..
Let’s say it’s loan or grant – loan if you can repay it; if you can find work and be put on a payroll, but grant if you are self employed as an informal – how can they ever trace you at chisokone, or the streets, going from home to home repairing things under company name but being paid in individual’s name? Good idea, but if not well managed can bankrupt the government of the Bond money! Citizens world over have a sense of entitlement from the govt, so anything received by them is from the their parent – the govt.
iwe you can pay back a grant! sakila defination ya grant!!!
That is why there is a credit beaural to take care of such things
Good that the loan scheme will soon be in force. If a student needs more money he or she will have to negotiate this individually with the institution giving out loans and not make noise and destroy innocent people’s vehicles at the roadside. Whoever thinks this is not enough can forget about getting a degree the way Mugabe did it to Zimbabwean students who became too demanding of government.
Ba Lusaka times no data the loan scheme was introduced in 2004 it hasnt just properly administered so the current govt shud just put in measures to ensure that it operates properly,like a revolving fund by way of working on recoveries.
I think naivety is asking the government at the time they are giving you a university loan to also ask them to employ you. First things first is this loan facility being demonized really bad? We should be hailing government for this wonderful move. By its very nature, a loan gives hundred percent liability on the loanee. A loan I believe is different from a bursary where student have to use crook and hook to benefit. Loans by their very nature, unless the lender portfolio is limited provides a limitless possibility for all eligible students. In this digital world all graduates can be made to pay bit by bit using electronic cards. A central credit bureau can store data until people pay ie Are civil servants who get loans bonded? No! Banks know how to deal with peoples indebtedness
It is not difficult to trace people who will get loans. Just put a good system in place and all will be fine. Great move indeed.
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.
THE LOAN SCHEME IS DEFINATELY GOOD. BUT THERE ARE NO JOBS. SO HOW WILL THE UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE PAY BACK THE LOANS? I HAVE A SUGGESTION: IF NO ONE GETS A JOB IN TWO YEARS AFTER GRADUATION, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD SEND SUCH FOR UNTRAINED TEACHING AND PUT THEM ON A SALARY FOR 3 YEARS TO PAY BACK THE LOAN. AFTER THAT YOU ARE FREE TO PURSUE THE CAREER OF YOUR CHOICE. AFTER ALL TAX PAYERS MONEY WAS SPENT ON YOU. YOU HAVE TO PAY BACK. AND EVERYONE MUST BE TOLD HOW MUCH MONEY WAS SPENT ON THEIR EDUCATION JUST IN CASE THEY FIND ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF REPAYING THE LOAN.
The loan facility in my opinion is great. I benefited from the bursaries, after graduating I got a good job that would have allowed me to pay back some of the money government gave me as a UNZA student. But there is no mechanism to do so. I suggest that government need to work with Bursaries Committee (BC) to provide a data base of all us that have benefited from the scheme. then approach all companies and organisations in Zambia to ensure any one on the list of BC beneficiary, should be deducted a small amount such as 10% or 5% of the salary. This would go a long way in sustaining UNZA. The for those working in diaspora, government should introduce mechanism for them to make this contribution also.
CORRECTION. THE RENOVATIONS AT UNZA HAVE BEEN DONE UNDER THE PF LEADERSHIP BECAUSE OF THE GAMES WE HOSTED. RB FAILD TO HOST MUCH BIGGER GAMES AND RENOVATIONS.
mwefibantu mwaba shani what ever the good thing the Govt does imwe kususha,muletasha mwefipuba mwe.viva pf for the good things you are doing we are behind you.
“progress it has” – NOT “progress in has”
“national students’ bursaries” – NOT “national student’s bursaries”
“replacing with” – NOT “replacing by”
“as it provides” – NOT “as it provided” [*contextual]
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The loan scheme is noble and applicable. Don’t just puke your ignorance. You as Zambia are not the first to implement this scheme. It has been tasted, has been and is working, period.
That system works in many European countries, the only thing all of you should be advising the govt is to create a data base and put all schools, colleges, institutions, companies, organisations and universities on the data base. Make the banks to use updated data services, all persons should be paid through banks and thus it would be easy to make people pay back the loan.
The loan system is a good idea. It’s the best I have heard from my PF government. The present system of giving grants to the so called underprevileged is just corrupt.
People, let all those who deserve to go to colleges and universities go without money hinderance. But extend this to Mulungushi University Students also. You call it a public university but the conditions are different, why?
bravo to the government, at least will not be having many students struggling with financial problems
These students think loans means free money, its money that you have to pay back ! Be very carefull. I personally think a country like z needs 100 % free education up to university level.
Obed #7,
To the best of my knowledge, there is no loan scheme yet at UNZA. Most students still get 75 percent bursary while the remaining 25 percent is paid by by the guardians. Only students defined as vulnerable get 100 percent bursary.
If the loan scheme has to work, the loans should be given out through the banks. The banks, working closely with the Ministry of Education, should therefore play a key role in working out the modalities of disbursement and repayment of loans.
This Government is working, how about the ZWD publishing this images on their sites and find some way of condemning it?????
If you get a loan and get a masters degree and are fearing how you are going to pay then you must be stupid. Think of this as an investment and choose a well paying career.