K51mil for loan scheme

By LORRAINE JIMAL
THE Government has allocated K51 million to the tertiary loan scheme for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST), acting secretary Francis Hualupmomi says.
He announced this during the launching of the 2021-2025 national skills development plan and technical education plan 2021-2030 on Friday.
Hualupmomi said the programme implemented by Prime Minister James Marape would see some of the post graduates start repaying the loan this year.
“This year, we will reap the first dividends of Help through repayment of loan by the post graduate working class students who have completed their studies last year,” he said.
“The dividends will be managed under a higher education endowment fund facility.
“This facility will manage and sustain funds for a long term.
“This facility will be linked to the Sovereign Wealth Fund.”
Hualupmomi added that this year the number of spaces available in higher education institutions had increased from 12,000 to 15,000.
“This is due to inclusion of new institutions and programmes,” he said.
“We anticipate to increase the number of spaces to 30,000 as directed by the prime minister under the new strategic plans of DHERST between five and 10 years.”
Marape said his government would provide a lifetime interest-free loan to tertiary students.
He said the policy was introduced, not just to invest in human capital development, but, to remove financial burden from parents.
“No more will you pay tertiary education school fees, as long as you have your NID (national identification card) and residency as a Papua New Guinean, you will get money for your school fees,” he said.