SSNIT to solely fund students' loans

Accra, Aug. 25, GNA - The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has the required funds to solely provide loans for continuing students in tertiary institutions, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning said on Friday.

Students do not, therefore, need to apply to commercial banks for bridge loans as previously announced since the problem of the implementation of the students' loan scheme has been resolved. This was contained in a statement signed by Ms Cecilia Akwetey of the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

The statement said following discussions with some commercial banks on providing bridge loans for continuing students in tertiary institutions, further consultations had been held with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports with representatives of tertiary institutions and SSNIT on implementation of the scheme. "A review of the situation has indicated that SSNIT has the required funds available to pay the students.

"With the preparations that have been put in place by SSNIT, payments can be made quickly to alleviate the cash burden of students." The statement said SSNIT had, therefore, agreed to speed up the process of the disbursement of funds as soon as it received the list of registered students from the University and Polytechnic Authorities. It said the authorities were working hard to submit the list of registered students after the deadline for registration to enable funds to be released in the next two weeks.

The statement said a number of banks were prepared to make loans available for the bridge financing facility for students. "We are indeed grateful to these banks and we hope that we can count on their support in the future. We hope the banks can develop special financing packages to meet the demands of students."

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Ministry of Education, Science and Sports urged students to exercise patience while things were being put in place for funds to be released to them as soon as possible.