Nearly 600,000 beneficiaries have not serviced their loans, with some arrears dating back to the 90s.
The university funding model was meant to run like a revolving fund in which old borrowers pay so new applicants can be lent the cash to complete studies and hopefully join the job market or create business and create jobs.
But we seem to be in a situation where, having enjoyed a government loan, some beneficiaries want to shut the door of opportunity to future students, some of whom might be their own children.
In a country at our stage of development, there is need for a serious and continuous review, every five years, to establish whether the model works and if there are bottlenecks, a solution is sought and the system fixed before a molehill becomes a mountain.
Helb must come up with more innovative methods of loan recovery, especially in the era of mobile money transaction that can net defaulters and return Helb to a reliable arm of funding students through college.
Some of the arrears might be as a result of employment challenges, meaning few graduates are landing jobs and therefore have no income.
But there are cynical thousands with the ill-considered belief that by not paying the government will raise taxes to fund future students.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Honor lies in honest toil.” —22nd and 24th US President Grover Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837
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