Students Loan Trust disburses GH¢600m this year — CEO

The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) disbursed approximately GH¢600 million this year for various educational initiatives, including the Students’ Loan, Students Loan Plus, allowance to teacher trainees, no academic fees, and free tertiary education for persons with disabilities, according to its CEO Dr Saadija Shiraz. Dr Shiraz anticipates that the fund's spending will increase to around GH¢800 million in the next academic year.

She attributes the success of these programs to the government's commitment to education and tertiary education financing, which has provided over GH¢1 billion in funding since last year.

The SLTF is utilizing technology to streamline its operations, and Dr Shiraz highlighted the need for beneficiaries to upload their affidavits on the SLTF portal to verify their status as students. She also projected that for the 2026-2027 academic year, the SLTF aims to support approximately 200,000 beneficiaries, including a significant increase in loan applications.

Dr Shiraz announced that the trust fund's loan systems would be fully digitalized beginning this academic year, enabling students to sign loan agreements online. This digital transformation aims to make accessing student financing more convenient.

Dr John Machayi, President of the Association of African Higher Education Financing Agencies (AHEFA), emphasized the importance of seeing funding higher education as an investment in human capital. He urged African governments to prioritize the financing of skills required in their respective countries, producing graduates who serve as assets to their governments.

Dr Machayi acknowledged the critical role of technology in facilitating student financing and stressed the importance of data in driving technological advancements.