Tanzania: Joy as HESLB Approves 2300 Student Loans

Posted on :Friday , 3rd March 2017

About 2,348 students from higher learning institutions in the country have every reason to smile after the Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB) granted them with loans through an appealing window.

According to a statement from HESLB, 20,020 appeals were received online out of which 17,020 with all requisite documents were received from various higher learning institutions.

"A thorough verification process of all submitted application forms was done and the groups of successful applicants and their number in brackets are People With Disabilities (61), Orphans (57), Students from Single Parent Families (570), students from less income families (1,169) and students who were sponsored to pursue their secondary education (491)," reads the statement in part.

On November 1, 2016, HESLB opened a 90-day appealing window to allow new and continuing students who failed to meet the criteria for loans to challenge the board's grading decision and subsequently cover a gap of over 5,000 students whose funds for loans had already been set aside.

The deadline for submission of appeals was January 31, 2017. The appeal window involved students who did not qualify for the bursary and those who were not satisfied with the grading system for academic year 2016/17.

HESLB Executive Director, Mr Abdul- Razaq Badru, told a news conference in Dar es Salaam on October 31, last year, that 5,326 students will benefit. However, it turned out yesterday that the number of successful applicants was 2,348.

The government approved 483bn/- budget support for HESLB for the academic year 2016/17. The budget was for 119,012 students of which 93,295 were continuing students and 25,717 were new students. Before the appeals, out of the intended 25,717 students only 20,391 students had been approved for bursary leaving a gap of about 5,326.

The number of loans beneficiaries from the Board was relatively limited, but other than budgetary constraints, the government outlined that other reason some students were not considered for this year's support such as poor filling of application forms.

According to the HESLB statement, the Board had already forwarded the names of successful applicants whose appeals received a green light to the respective higher learning institutions and that funding disbursement procedures were ongoing.

"The Board equally hereby informs applicants and the general public that the exercise has officially been closed until the next academic year," the HESLB statement maintained.

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