THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has finally bared its mind on the Federal Government’s student loan initiative, arguing that beneficiaries often struggle to repay loans.
During an appearance on a television programme, yesterday, ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke stated that the union’s research on student loan systems in other countries showed that graduates often become societal burden and feel demoralized.
“Imagine a student graduating from the university with a loan of five million naira, even I as a professor, I cannot pay back such a loan in 20 years’ time.
“A student who graduated has a loan burden of N5 million and is not sure of getting a job in the next 10 to 20 years”, he said.
Osodeke suggested that increasing the budgetary allocation for education would eliminate the need for student loans.
He also noted that this is the third attempt to implement such an initiative, which previously failed, raising doubts about its viability this time.
Citing the United States of America as an example, he said student loans being prevalent, many students were unable to repay their debts, leading to severe consequences, including suicides.
He added that President Joe Biden had to intervene to address the loan crisis.
Osodeke questioned how the initiative could succeed in a country with a high unemployment rate.
