SLB ON THE WRONG PATH

By Delano Seiveright

The government’s recent decision to cut the interest rate of the Student Loans Bureau (SLB) loans from 16% to 12% is not good enough. An interest rate of 12% on loans to largely young people eager to attain tertiary level education is unnecessarily high. Incidentally, the grand proclamation of the interest rate reduction by the Finance Minister came at almost the same time that it was announced that tuition fees for UWI will be increased by 8%.

It is becoming increasingly evident that poor Jamaicans will continue to experience serious difficulties accessing tertiary level education. Tertiary students and those aspiring to gain tertiary education are not in any way asking for hand outs, we would simply appreciate it if government could find innovative and less costly ways of breaking down the barriers to accessing tertiary education.

Recommendations
One recommendation is to further reduce SLB interest rates to single digits. This would aid in turning dreams of attaining tertiary education a reality for that very large and marginalized segment of society.
A second recommendation is for the government to initiate the process of overhauling the operations of the SLB. Most persons who have had to interact with the SLB realize that the agency is inefficient and a bit chaotic.
A third recommendation is to prioritize expenditure. It is an ignominy for the SLB to build new uptown office space for its self costing over $360 million. $360 million in grants and student loans could fund well over 3,000 current and new tertiary students for a year.
Other recommendations include lengthening the time for loan repayment and making the recent reduction in interest rates retroactive.

Judging by recent pronouncements and trends it is becoming increasingly apparent that the value of tertiary education in Jamaica is being diluted. Though early childhood education is in need of substantial amounts of resources and must become the priority; this does not necessitate the negation of tertiary level education. An education system strong at one end and weak at another will not necessarily redound to the overall benefit of the society.

The government must therefore act quickly as the ball now in their court.