The Deputy National President of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, has said each state of the federation should set up its own student loan scheme.
Speaking in an interview with New Daily Prime, he opined that doing so would take some financial burdens off the shoulders of parents.
According to him, the step would also complement what the federal government has done with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, otherwise known as the Student Loan Scheme.
” There is no reason for each state of the federation not to have a similar body like the student loan scheme that the federal government has set up. It is good and it will help students and their parents to cope with the economic situation in the country.
“Even if it is N10 billion, each state can start doing that now. There is no state in the country now that will say it cannot raise such an amount to start the scheme. Their allocations have tremendously increased since the oil subsidy has been removed,” he noted.
Ogunbanjo also called on parents not to join the wagon of those who want to show off by sending their wards and children to high tuition paying schools when they cannot cope.
“The thing to do is to know your limit. There is no need to want to impress anybody by sending your children to schools you can barely afford the fees. Big schools do not mean that the quality is high. It may just be for status symbol, ” he counselled.
