The government is to amend the law on higher education loans to accommodate diploma courses in priority disciplines and not degree programmes

The government is to amend the law on higher education loans to accommodate diploma courses in priority disciplines and not degree programmes only as is the case now, education minister Joyce Ndalichako said yesterday. Ndalichako, who is Minister for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, was explaining to the parliamentary Legal Affairs committee about various education-related legislations including the Higher Education Students Education Board (HESLB) bill, section 178. “For now we are only issuing loans to students pursuing degrees, but we have noticed that there is a need to offer the same even to those pursuing diplomas in courses that are a government priority for now,” she said. However, members of the committee queried the powers vested in the minister to select which courses are a priority to the nation. The meeting was attended by various education stakeholders who also pointed out sector areas that need changes that the government should work on. These include the addition of board members to legal aid committees as well as a proper definition of a lawyer. The committee’s chairman, Mohamed Mchengerwa, said the views aired by the stakeholders will be taken aboard for further review. The current fifth phase government has recently taken steps to introduce new guidelines for the issuance of loans to higher learning students. In its directive, the government announced that it will prioritise courses that are in line with the five year National Development Plan and the National Development Vision of 2025, which includes courses that will bring out professionals that can help fast-track the industrialisation policy. The move sparked an outcry from education sector analysts who pointed out that it is likely to cause a crisis in the sense that parents/guardians will now have to carry the sponsorship burden for students pursuing so-called non-priority courses.About 483 billion/- was set aside /- in the current 2016/2017 government budget to support about 119,012 students.