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In order for a student to access a loan, he or she is require to apply for the loan during the loan application window which is annually set by HESLGB. For 2018/19 loans, HESLGB opened the loan application window from 1^st to 30^th April 2018. After observing the number of application that were being submitted after the closing date, HESLGB further extended the loan application window to 30^th May 2018 in order to accommodate as many applicants as possible. Click to read the full article.

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. Click to read full article.

From 1^st to 30^th April 2018 the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) was receiving loan application forms from students who are seeking to access 2018/19 loans. This exercise is one of the steps that HESLGB undertakes in order to fulfil its mandate of annually providing loans and grants to needy students in public and private institutions of higher learning in Malawi. The purpose of this weeks’ entry is to highlight other key activities that lead to disbursement of loans and grants to needy students. Click to read the full article.

Recent developments in the Education Sector have shown that the Government of Malawi is committed to its efforts of increasing inclusive and equitable access and improving quality of higher education in the country. Among many other initiatives, permitting private universities to expand their operations; increasing bed space in public universities; and introduction of online and distance learning systems are some of the initiatives that Government is implementing with the aim of increasing accessibility of higher education for all Malawians. Click here to read the full article.

Efforts to increase access to higher education has steered the expansion of public universities and opening of new private universities. The increase in demand for higher education has translated to an increase in demand for student loans. This is evident by the number of loan applications received by the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) every years.

However, the resources that Government annually allocates to HESLGB are not enough to meet the demand for loans. As such recovery of outstanding loans from former beneficiaries is paramount to boosting the resource base for supporting needy students. Click to continue reading the story.