Introduction
The passing of the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board Act in 2015 facilitated the establishment of the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB). The Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Act mandates HESLGB to annually disburse loans to needy and deserving students and to recover outstanding matured loans from all former beneficiaries of student loan schemes.
Before the introduction of the students’ loan schemes, University of Malawi (UNIMA) students (only then) were not required to contribute anything towards their studies and government paid them a stipend as well as stationery allowance.
The student loan schemes were introduced by the Government of Malawi in 1985 as one way of complying with the austerity measures that were conditional to the World Bank facility under the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The administration of the students’ loan schemes went through a number of institutions, all of which faced challenges like lack of effective disbursement mechanisms of loans to students and recovering the old loans from former beneficiaries due to the lack of regulatory legal framework and guiding mechanisms in the disbursement and recovery processes. The establishment of HESLGB is direct remedy to challenges faced by the previous student loan administrators.
How to Enquire Your Loan Balance
The HESLGB Act stipulates that all former beneficiaries of students’ loans schemes have a duty to pay back their loans to the Government through HESLGB. The former beneficiaries are required to check their loans status and balances by either sending an email to the following email addresses; info.loans@heslgb.com/loans.recovery@heslgb.com or directly calling the HESLGB Secretariat using the following number: 0992349160 and 0885890520. Alternatively, they can fill and submit an online form on our website (www.heslgb.mw). It is imperative for student loan enquirers to provide their clear details when seeking to know their loan status and balance. Key and helpful details to be provided upon enquiry must include: first and second names (including maiden Name for married females), sex, Years of study, name of College/University which one attended, one’s student registration number, Phone number or Email address currently being used.
Upon providing these details listed above to the Loans Board, it will take a range of 3 to 24 hours for the Board to provide feedback on one’s loan status. The feedback indicates the years one got the loan, the total of the loans taken and the accrued interest. Failure to provide adequate details to the Board seriously makes it difficult for the Board to quickly and timely find an enquirer’s information.
Payment Options
The HESLGB Act provides that all student loan beneficiaries are supposed to start paying back their loans two years upon successful completion of their studies and immediately upon unsuccessful completion of their studies. At the moment all former student loan beneficiaries can make their loan repayments by directly depositing cash or Cheque into a HESLGB bank accounts or make arrangements with their employers to be making monthly deductions from their salary and then the employers are required to remit the deduction to the Board on 15th of every month as provided for by section 28 of the HESLGB Act.
It should be noted that the HESLGB Secretariat and its employees do not handle any cash related to loan repayment. As such all loan repayments must be deposited in the following bank accounts:
- FDH Account number: 1380000022625, Account Name: Student Loans Collection Account, Branch: City Centre Branch
- National Bank Account number: 1002261808, Account Name: Higher Education Loans Recovery Account, Branch: City Centre Branch.
Former student loan beneficiaries are provided with a chance to be repaying their loan in installments within 12 months period after agreeing with the Loans Board. If loan repayment is not completed within the agreed 12 months, interest is added on the remaining loan balance.
Once a payment is made, a former loan beneficiary is required to send a copy of the deposit slip (in a scanned copy) either by email or directly dropping it directly to HESLGB Secretariat in Area 10 in Lilongwe where a receipt is issued for each payment, followed by an update of the loans database to show the current status of the loan. Upon completion of repayment, HESLGB issues a clearance certificate which signifies that the holder of the certificate complied with the HESLGB Act and no longer owes the Government of Malawi.
Call to Action
The Malawi Government of Malawi established the HESLGB to ensure that poor but intelligent Malawians should not fail to access higher education due to financial constraints. Resources from loan recovery are crucial for HESLGB to effectively support needy students and meet the increasing demand for students’ loans. Therefore, HESLGB calls upon all former beneficiaries to comply with the loan repayment processes as stipulated by the HESLGB Act. HESLGB further reminds all former loan beneficiaries that non-compliance is an offense which is punishable by law. “Pay back your student loans now, support the Malawi Government in increasing accessing to higher education’.