Management of Student Loan Trust Fund engages stakeholders in Bolgatanga

Ms Sheila Naa Boamah, CEO SLTF

Ambassador Donald Adabere (Extreme left)

Management of the Student Loan Trust Fund, SLTF has met with key stakeholders at a forum in Bolgatanga to discuss ways in addressing the bottlenecks identified in the operation of the fund.  

The meeting among other interventions is aimed at developing solutions to problems tertiary students face in accessing the fund. 

In a statement, the CEO of the fund, Ms Sheila Naa Boamah, said the fund was undergoing massive restructuring and it is determined to consider inputs from stakeholders to make the fund more viable and accessible. 

She said with the support of the board, efforts are being made to fix the challenge of student continuing school list that often result in the delay of disbursement. 

Furthermore, the fund is fashioning out moves to implement solutions that reduces students getting deferred or dropping out of school as a result of financial challenges. 

For a decade, the Student Loan Trust Fund, SLTF, has established institutional linkages with its key stakeholders in a quest to streamlining the loan application processes. 

Since it took over the management of student loans from SSNIT in 2006, SLTF has improved on its terms and conditions to benefit more students in both public and accredited private universities as well as colleges of education and polytechnics. 

So far, the SLTF had supported over 700 teacher trainees in 45 colleges in the last two academic years. 

In addition, the fund had provided financial assistance to close to hundred thousand Ghanaians, some of whom have been able to attain some form of post-secondary education. 

This is partly because the fund has gone through some reforms with the view to addressing some bottlenecks which for years has impeded the progress of the fund. 

Speaking to Radio Ghana, the CEO of the fund, Ms Sheila Naa Boamah, said the challenge of inadequate internet infrastructure in some institutions and the poor completion of students loan application form have been duly resolved through the paper application mode, having realized the deficiencies in the application process.  

On the issue of repayment, Ms Naa Boamah said under its loan recovery strategy, prospective borrowers especially those from the informal sector and non-residence are easily identified and made to fulfil their loan obligations. 

She was convinced that with the collaboration of institutional guarantors and the setting up of loan repayment clinics in most working environments, loan recovery will improved for the better to benefit more applicants. 

In a presentation, the Ho Operational Manager of the SLTF, Vincent Akorli, encouraged the various tertiary institutions to give out their full school enrollment list on time to enable the fund provide timely financial services to eligible students.  

He moreover expressed his outfit’s readiness to provide effective guidelines for the operationalization of the fund and called on stakeholders to provide valid input into the draft document of the fund to enrich it and make it  more sustainable.  

The function brought together heads of public and private tertiary institutions including representatives of student bodies as well as Board Members and Zonal Managers of the SLTF.

GBC                                                              END                                                     IK/PA/AS/JKK