Signing of students’ loan agreements starts today

The Higher Education Students Financing Board (HESFB) is expected to kick off the process of the signing of students’ loan agreements today.

This, according to the board, shall be rotational across the institutions with qualified beneficiaries and will run till Friday, January 13, 2023.

According to the schedule, the process will start with Lira University, then proceed to Mountains of The Moon University, Uganda Technical College Lira, Lira School of Nursing, Kampala International University and will finalise with Bugema University and Makerere University.

According to the loan award report presented by the chairperson governance board Dr Charles Wana-Etyem, the board received a total of 3,089 loan applications for the academic year 2022/23, representing a 51% reduction in the numbers compared to 6,256 applications received in the previous academic year.

Of the 3,089 received applications, only 2,417 (78%) were eligible for the scheme. Of these, 1,854 (77%) are male.

Using the budgetary allocation of sh2.6b, the board was able to award financial support to 625 applicants, of which 207 (33%) are female.

Out of the 625 successful applications, 518 (83%) are undergraduate degree students, while 107 (17%) are undergraduate diploma students. 

Wana-Etyem said the small number of diploma applicants was due to a delay in the admission of students by the Joint Admissions Board.