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Introduction

On one hand, proponents of higher education argue that the more educated the citizens of a country are, the more likely their personal and societal economies are to develop and succeed. On the other, some people argue that higher education is a luxury because its benefits are more for an individual than the society. Although this is an ongoing debate the underlying fact is that education is important to the socio-economic transformation of any society. We cannot therefore down play the role of education for Malawi just like somebody said “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance”. The Government of Malawi acknowledges the role that higher education plays in development that is why, amongst other initiatives like establishing more higher learning institutions and establishing a quality assurance Board for higher education in the name of National Council for Higher Education, it further established the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HSLGB) to support needy and deserving students with loans to access higher education in Malawi.

Obligation of Loan Beneficiaries

The responsibility of financing higher education is not solely on government but also on the private sector and individual citizen’s especially former beneficiaries of students’ loan schemes. HESLGB is mandated to recover loans from all former beneficiaries so as to create a self-sustaining revolving higher education financing mechanism. In reference to Section 27 of the HESLGB Act, the following are some of the obligations of beneficiaries of loan schemes:

A report by the World Bank entitled “Improving Higher Education in Malawi for Competitiveness in the Global Economy” indicate that enrollment in higher education in Malawi is among the lowest in the world. Whilst that is the case, the report further revealed that enrollments in higher education institutions is dominated by students from rich households because they are the ones who easily afford to pay the costs of higher education. Resultantly, there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor in accessing higher education. As one way of bridging this gap the Government of Malawi though an Act of Parliament established the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB), whose mandate is to provide loans and grants to needy students in all accredited Higher Learning Education institutions in Malawi. HESLGB is also legally mandated to recover all loans that were granted to students under students’ loan schemes since 1985/86 as stated in section 4 (k) of the of the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Act. click to read more.

Introduction and brief background

In 2015 the Malawi National Assembly passed the Higher Education Students’ Loan Act (Parliamentary Act No.2) which facilitated the establishment of the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB). The Board is responsible for disbursement of loans to needy and deserving Malawians who are pursuing higher education in all public and accredited private universities and recovering mature loans from all beneficiaries.

This article is the first out of the many to come on a newly introduced Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) Column. to read more