– persons urged to apply as soon as possible
As the Government continues to aggressively implement its Student Loan Write-Off Programme, additional measures have been rolled out to improve the ease of access to the initiative by prospective beneficiaries.
These new measures were announced on Sunday by Finance and Public Service Minister, Dr Ashni Singh.
Among the additional accessibility measures is full online submission of applications through the Ministry of Finance website at https://studentloanwriteoff.gov.gy/apply/new.
In addition, drop boxes for hard copy submission of application forms will be placed at all 10 Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Offices countrywide with immediate effect, as well as at the Ministry of Education office at 26 Brickdam, Georgetown, and the University of Guyana Tain Campus in Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
Moreover, applicants may also mail in their application via any post office to the Student Loan Agency. Persons using this method are advised to address their envelope to: Student Loan Agency, PO Box 101544, Georgetown, and state their name and address back of the envelope.
Application forms will also be available at all RDC and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) offices countrywide.
Eligible applicants are reminded that they can still download the application form via the Ministry of Finance’s website on this link: https://finance.gov.gy/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Student-Loan-Application-Form-2024-Final.pdf. The hard copy of this form can also be submitted to the Student Loan Agency at the University of Guyana Turkeyen Campus, Greater Georgetown.
In a statement on Sunday, Minister Singh urged persons to submit their applications as soon as possible, so as to facilitate timely processing of the applications in the interest of ensuring that all eligible persons benefit from the write-off of their outstanding student loans.
Back in May of this year, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government announced its Student Loan Write-Off Programme – an initiative that will see student loans to the tune of $18 billion being written off.
Further, in keeping with the PPP/C Government’s 2020 Manifesto commitment to deliver free education by 2025, President Dr Irfaan Ali also announced in October that by January 2025, tuition fees at the University of Guyana will be abolished.
Further, tuition fees at all Government technical and vocational training institutes will be abolished, including the Guyana Industrial Training Centre, the Guyana School of Agriculture and the Carnegie School of Home Economics. This expanded measure is slated to benefit over 3000 additional persons. It also forms part of the Government’s broader initiative to enhance human capital development to reduce inequality and improve access to education for every Guyanese citizen.
In its 2024 Mid-Year Report that was released in August, the Ministry of Finance had reported that some 346 students had already had their loans — amounting to $203.7 million — written off. Beneficiaries of this phase are former students who were able to prove they had completed their course of study and had graduated; and after graduation, have been employed or self-employed in Guyana for a minimum of three years, as evidenced by a minimum of 156 contributions made to the National Insurance Scheme.
In September, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had disclosed that the government is aiming to write off the loans of some 2,900 students, totalling approximately $5 billion, by the end of this year. As such, Jagdeo, who is also the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, had urged former University of Guyana students with outstanding loans to apply for the write-off programme.
“If more people come in, we would write all of it off in a single year; the full $18 billion, once they are eligible. I want to urge the students who have outstanding debts to just apply for the write-off so that we can proceed with doing so. It will be a pretty large number of students — thousands of them,” he had noted.
Moreover, Jagdeo had stated that a mechanism would be implemented to assist students who have already paid their dues to the University of Guyana but are repaying loans at commercial banks.
The government had announced this student loan write-off programme in its 2024 budget, presented earlier this year. Phase one of this programme is expected to benefit around 13,000 individuals and forgive a staggering $11 billion in loans.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister further encouraged persons in Sunday’s missive to utilise all the training opportunities the Government has made available to upgrade and uplift their skills to enable them to fully take up the wide range of available job opportunities across the country, and further contribute and benefit from the unprecedented growth and transformation of the economy.
In addition to the student loan write-off initiative, the PPP/C Government has been actively promoting the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme, which offers free university education opportunities in 187 programmes offered by 15 academic institutions around the world. To date, Government has invested $1.6 billion in scholarships through this programme; and as at May 2024, over 4,000 individuals have graduated with degrees, diplomas and certificates while an impressive 8,023 GOAL scholarships have been awarded for studies that commenced in September 2024.
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