DODOMA: THE government is exploring the possibility of involving the private sector in financing intermediary and higher education to address the increasing demand for students’ loans.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa informed the National Assembly yesterday that despite the government’s commitment to continue increasing student loan funds there has been a rise in the number of applicants seeking the loans.
“The government is exploring the possibility of involving the private sector in financing intermediary and higher education in order to address this challenge,” Majaliwa said while adjourning the 17th meeting of the12th Parliament in Dodoma.
He said to ensure access to higher education opportunities and support priority professions at intermediary colleges, the government has continued to allocate funds for students’ loans.
“In the 2024/2025 financial year, the government has set aside 787.4bn/- for providing loans to 245,799 students, with a total of 600.6bn/- already disbursed to 189,641 students,” Majaliwa said.
The unveiling of the list of loan beneficiaries for the 2024/2025 academic year, Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) Executive Director Dr Bill Kiwia said that the government has increased a minimum loan per each student by 11.1 per cent starting this financial year.
With the new change, a minimum amount of loan per each beneficiary has increased from 2.7m/- to 3m/-.
He added that the 2024/25 budget has increased by 38bn/- equivalent to 5.1 per cent, compared to the 2023/24 budget of 749.4bn/-.
“We thank the government, under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, for the increase of budget allocation which has also enabled an increase in amount of loan per student,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Premier Majaliwa said that the government targets to register more than 1.8million nursery school children and 1.7 Standard One pupils for the next academic year.
The PM said that the government is committed to ensuring that all children who have attained school going age are enrolled and complete their respective levels of education.
“The aim is to build an educated Tanzanian society with knowledge, skills and a positive mindset that will enable them to contribute to the development of our nation,” he said.
He noted that the government is proceeding with preparations to register nursery school children and Standard One pupils based on projections of the 2022 Population and Housing Census.
Majaliwa noted that the registration exercise had already begun, calling upon parents and guardians to make sure that they register all their children of school going age including those with special needs.
Majaliwa directed all District Council Executive Directors to assign responsibilities to Village and Ward Executives to encourage parents and guardians and community leaders to ensure that all children of school-going age are registered.
Majaliwa also directed regional leaders and council directors to fully oversee the construction of infrastructure to accommodate Form One students who are expected to start their studies in January next year.
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Regarding the use of clean cooking energy, Majaliwa directed all institutions that prepare food for more than 100 people to ensure they implement the directives that require them to switch to clean cooking energy, asking the Ministry of Energy to continue monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the National Clean Cooking Strategy.
