THE Zambia National Union Students’ Union (ZANASU), a union body comprising various higher learning students’ representation has called on Government to quickly implement the proposed Students Loan Scheme.
The students’ body with representation from the University of Zambia (UNZA), Copperbelt University (CBU), Mulungushi University, Mukuba University, Evelyn Hone College and Chainama College of Health Sciences, convened on over the weekend and came up with a policy document on students loan scheme which highlighted the need for implementation of the scheme.
They noted with sadness and concern how the bursary had allegedly for a long time lacked transparency and good will for the underprivileged citizens.
This was contained in a statement released today and signed by five students’ union leaders.
They included Copperbelt University Students Union (COBUSU) president Gerald Chiluba, Mulungushi University Students Union (MUSU) president Jeanmfy Ndoyi and University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU) Ridgeway Campus president Henry Sakala.
The other two were Mukuba University Students Union (MUKSU) president Innocent Kaunda and his Evelyn Hone College counterpart Jimmy Chellah.
The students’ body said higher education was a critical engine in both national development and reduction of economic inequality and poverty and that as such, were calling upon Government to play a level-headed role on the matter so as to allow equal access of higher education among citizens.
“Having deliberated on the subject matter, we hereby appeal to the Government to seriously consider implementing the students’ loan scheme under the following recommendations,” they said.
Among the recommendations was for creation of an autonomous body that would manage and administer the loan scheme in a transparent, accountable and honesty manner as well as development of a mechanism for loan recovery system to be adopted by the tertiary education loan authority or any so mandated body.
They also recommended for putting in place of an effective tracer system for all beneficiaries where loan scheme finances could be recovered through institutions as well as the creation of social security numbers.
The students’ body was positive that the implementation of the loan scheme would create a revolving fund that will benefit the majority students regardless of their status in addition to providing equal opportunity to the access of higher education among others.
They cited private sector contributions, Government grants, buying of shares and stock exchange among others as being the sources of money.
“In light of this, we are appealing to the Government to quickly implement the students’ loan scheme and as students’ we are not happy with the Ministry of Education and Justice for sitting on the process of loan scheme which has been reportedly going through legal process for a long and unreasonable period of time,” they said.
This student loan thing will not work ,there are no jobs after you finish your studies to enable you pay back the loan, those are the challenges big economies are facing right now.
PF niba chimbwi chabe. 6000 thousand students are not that many for the state to sponsor. To PF education is viewed as an expense instead of an investment.
In the UK, every student with a place at Uni, has access to a student loan only to be repaid when the graduate gets a job which pays at least £21000 per year. Which means without a job no paying back.
I wonder how on earth PF is going to manage to run all these universities they are building all over if they can’t run the existing ones. They are busy constructing new roads which soon be is state of disrepair due to lack funds.
If PF continues after 2016, Zambia will be worst country to live in. Zimbabwe might be facing sanctions but its more organised than Zambia under PF.
Hyenas are better than PF!
Very demanding people, yet they don’t lift a finger for their well being, always complaining and vandalizing their only resources!
I as Kambwili the Big Skeleton but small brain & penis as in my pic will push GRZ to quickly implement the loan thing but the loaned students should quickly pay back…
@Robin,
Pessimism will not get us anywhere. At the moment there is nothing going. Let the few that will work or self employed pay back something. Even commercial banks do not always get back 100% of what they loan out.
Most of us elders who are millionaires despite having no parents are where we are today thanks to free primary to University education in the Kaunda days.
Ireland is what it is today because of free education. Same for the Asian tigers. Let us provide free education to our children/grand children instead of these roads that lead nowhere but darkness for these kids.
Scotland provides free education up to University as well. Germany is scrapping Tution fees altogether because they value education as huge investment for the future survival of the nation.
England on the other hand, is constantly suffering from a critical shortage of STEM professions, because each time they graduate, they only work for two years and then vanish to other places for greener pastures where they will not have to pay back the student loan until later in their lives after having sorted them selves out.
The Scots and Germans have enough money in their coffers to offer free education, not your PF government. It ain’t gonna happen, someone has to pay for these bursaries and everyone should play their part to repay the money. There’s nothing for free anymore. This wrekless sense of entitlement we have as Zambians should end at once.
I doubt very much that in the countries you have cited there are companies like the Post that evade tax… If you examine the tax regimen in those countries you are citing is quite rigorous – they collect every penny or cent due. You cannot begin to compare systems without taking everything into consideration. Picking and choosing is what has led most African countries to the knees that they are standing on (ahem – kneeling on) right now! Even SA is now tottering from incompetent management.
We already have social security numbers–They are called National Registration Numbers (NRC). We have over and over told the govt to computerize these numbers so that they are forever attached to your birth certificate, driver’s license, school certificates, employment, loans, etc and even death certificate.
With our current form of governance it is impossible to achieve the proposals or have a transparent body. Remember everything in Zambia revolves around the president or those in Govt. A new body will continue to be biased and give access, to loans, to their relatives. You will continue to have useless bodies such as ZRA, DEC, ACC, ERB, FRA and so on just so that the rich can get richer. What Zambia needs today is a constitutional change where the president is stripped of such…
Well said. You are so spot on
I agree the NRC number can be used for many things. In America SSN is everything. Create a database. If I need anything they check my SSN. In our case NRC is good enough. Zambia can just the American system of Federal loans, State Loans, Private Loans, Scholarships academic, student work programs etc. In Zambia it is who you know or so called “apamwamba”. Scholarships should be for everybody.
@Choma manu,
Thank you. Could not have put it better.
Let us get out of this pre-historic way of doing things.
Gentlemen lets be realistic! you cant just wake up and find all things in place.. sponsoring university students is not a one off occasion, it entails government commiting its k156m plus k32m*9 for 5years on average and thats just one university.. lets acknowledge zambia is making great progress but we are just impatient. as for the computerization of NRC’S government has made a lot of progress in that area and the exercise will begin next year but as usual you will here cries of PF planning to rig .. but anyway thats Zambia, us who have being here long enough now understand the retard cycle
Surely UNZASU is dead. How can these illiterates like Kambwili mark round with the powerful student body?Times have changed.
Powerful over what naimwe ??? this is modern world.Zambia is not UNZA..Some of them are even bank clerks..
one time the zwd accused sakwiba sikota as being rich through corruption and sponsoring barotseland activists.I commented by saying no!the man is amasing wealth because he is representing cases of bilionairs like hh,gbm,rb,dora etc the next day I was banned.I only view other people’s comments now.but today this is when I have realized that saki is being tageted becoz he is a lawyer fighting against mathani.I have also realized that no comments are allowed on this mathani.it also seems the zwd are angry with the Zambia report for constantly negatively reporting against raja mathani.mathani is a mafia like the Rothschilds,jp Morgan,rockerfellas ,Bush family.
The douchie bag called @ Wanyele even UK was constructing roads for it to be like that.Mazafcker you saying 6000 is not enough…Get lost bitch school leavers are over 70 000 equivalent to HH cows so its just boutta UNZA but other skools aswell.By the way you are comparing UK to Zambia well why don’t you compare £3500 pounds (K20000) for UNZA to £10,000 pounds (K80000) for average UK university which is 3 times higher than pa Zed..Wachimbwi no buso na nook chikala …So what is yo ka HH going to do since you don’t want loans…You deserve to be fornicated using a 3 piec foot barbed wire mazafacka…Come 2016 HH will be worse than Father Bwalya…..
Good ! Way to go. Some of us are still paying back some of the students loans. Glad that even Zambia is going in the same direction. I just hope the follow-up after the students leave school will be good and not full of holes.
I as Kambwili the Big Skeleton but small brain & penis as in my pic will push GRZ to quickly implement the loan thing but the loaned should quickly pay back as well…to all those calling me illiterate including @ Wanzelu pamu mpisi pinu…
MY VIEW IS STUDENT BODY NEED TO ORGANISE AN UPRISING TO DEMAND IREEN CHIRWA TO RESIGN, DR PHIRI AND THE KAMBWIRI. ALL THOSE FOLKS BENEFITED TO FREE EDUCATION, AND THE BYE E-ELECTION CREATED HAVE CAUSED AN INCOME GAP.
REVOLUTION IS THE ONLY KEY.
@General
How about the student body organize and uprising against the president since he is the reason we have these problems because he appoints people who appoint these incompetent people? I will be the first one to sit right in the middle of Dependence Ave between the barracks and sleep house
*****
These things have been loans from way back it’s just that that Bursaries committee has failed to come up with a way to collet money.
They need to come up with a way of getting back the money from those that got the student loans. They can learn from Kenya
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