Students need to provide NID

STUDENTS in tertiary institutions who will be applying for the higher education loan programme (Help) will need to provide their National Identity (NID) cards, according to Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology Wesley Raminai.
He said Help was initiated by the Government to assist students who could not afford their fees at tertiary institutions.
Raminai explained that Help would allow students to take out interest free loans and to pay it back once they graduated and found work.
He said, however, there were requirements for students to be eligible to apply for Help and this included a NID card and one’s grade 12 certificates.
Raminai said Grade 12 certificates could also be used to identify the applicant.
He said the NID and the Grade 12 certificates would later be used to trace the students when they found employment.
“The Government will deduct some amount such as K20 or K50 from their fortnight pay until all the loan is paid off.”
Raminai said the idea of the student loan programme aimed at those who could not afford the fees (helping parents) and missed out on scholarships to ensure more Papua New Guineans were able to gain tertiary qualifications.
He said officers from his department were finalising the acceptance list of the tertiary institutions and also the tertiary education study assistance scheme (Tesas) list. He said once the list was finalised, it would be published in the newspapers.