HESLB releases first batch of loan beneficiaries

DAR ES SALAAM: HIGHER Education Students’ Loan Board (HESLB) has released the first batch of 56,132 first year students, who qualified for loans for the 2023/2024 academic year that is expected to kick off next week.

Addressing reporters on Friday in Dar es Salaam, HESLB Executive Director, Abdulrazaq Badru said the beneficiaries will be paid a total of 159.7 bn /- that has already been released by the government.

“Of the 56,132 beneficiaries, 32,264 are males, which is equivalent to 57 per cent, while females are 23,868, equivalent to 43 per cent,” the HESLB boss said.

In particular, he added that from yesterday the beneficiaries can access information on the loans allocated to them by checking visiting their accounts through which they applied for the money.

“Those accounts are called Student’s Individual Permanent Account (SIPA). SIPA is the right platform for students to check the status of the information about loan applications for any loan applicant,” Mr Badru said.

Regarding the procedures for receiving the loans, Badru said that HESLB officials will be at high learning institutions from Monday (October 23), this year, to coordinate the registration of the students in the payment system.

“For new students, as they were advised when applying for the loans, they should come to colleges with their bank account numbers, their phone numbers and they will be registered in our payment system DiDiS (Digital Disbursement Solution) after being registered with the college,” Badru emphasized.

According to Mr Badru, the announcement of the second batch will be made before October 27, this year after the completion of the scrutiny and analysis of the ongoing applications.

“This list of the first batch consisting of students with qualifications, and those who correctly completed the admission procedures for one college…We are completing processing other applications, and we will announce the list of the second batch of beneficiaries before October 27, this year, ” he added.

In a related development, Mr Badru said the government has allocated 731bn/- for the loans means to benefit 220,376 students.

According to Mr Badru, the list of the first batch consists of 75,000 first year undergraduates while more than 145,376 are continuing students.

Regarding loans for diploma students Mr Badru said the board continues to receive applications, insisting that the window will be closed tomorrow. For the first time, loans for diploma students are starting to be issued this academic year.

He reminded the public that the window for applications for Samia Scholarships that target students with excellent performance in Science and Mathematics also closes tomorrow.