Students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta have started receiving credit alerts from the banks for the student loans they applied for, the institution’s Rector, Dr Adeoye Odedeji, says.
Odedeji disclosed this on Friday in Abeokuta during the inauguration of newly elected members of the institution’s Students Union Government (SUG).
The Rector explained that the loans from the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) were received by the institution on behalf of the students for the payment of their school fees.
He expressed concern that the majority of the students had not taken advantage of the student loan opportunity offered to them by the Federal Government.
Odedeji appealed to students to take advantage of the initiative, saying it was meant to take off them the stress of running helter-skelter looking for money to pay school fees.
“We discovered that from our own side, we sent about 11,000 depth data for NELFUND and NELFUND waited for students to register.
“It was only 81 students from the institution that registered and applied, and after screening those 81 students, 26 students were found to be qualified.
“Majority of the students did not apply for the loan. I strongly believe that the opportunity is still there, and they should go and apply for this loan.
“For the 26 students that were found qualified, I received alerts for the payment of their school fees this morning. That simply means those student's school fees for the next session have been taken care of.
“NELFUND in due course will again credit their bank accounts with maintenance allowance which will not come to the school,” he said.
Odedeji assured that the school management and the students would continue to be partners in the overall growth of the institution.
In his remarks, the new SUG President, Prosper Oladele, assured the students that he would represent them effectively without compromise.