A bill seeking the establishment of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme has scaled the second reading at the Senate on Wednesday.
Gatekeepers News reports the bill, which was sponsored by Senator Umar Sulieman representing Kwara North Senatorial District is seeking to provide a framework for education financing.
Suleiman said the bill seeks to grant interest-free loans and bursaries to eligible students in tertiary institutions, and will also ensure the well-structured administration of such loans and bursaries and their recovery.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the Senate President, Dr Ezrel Tabiowo, on Wednesday.
According to Suleiman, the Nigeria Students Loan Board, established in 1982 to help undergraduate and graduate students finance their studies within and outside Nigeria, provided loans between 1972 and 1991 to a tune of N46 million.
He noted that the scheme was suspended in 1992 after the Board failed to recover outstanding loans of over N40 million and added that the Students Loan Board was replaced by the Nigerian Education Bank in 1993.
The Senator further explained that the Education Bank serves as an intermediary in education credit market financing, which was designed to mobilise private sector resources for funding education.
The Senator noted that the bill to establish the National Students Financial Aid Scheme also seeks to repeal the existing Nigerian Education Bank.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, after consideration, referred the bill to the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND for further input.
The Committee was given four weeks to report back to the Senate in plenary.
