Heslb Updates for Loan Beneficiaries | Heslb News 2021

This post has all information about Heslb Updates for Loan Beneficiaries , Heslb News 2021, BENEFICIARIES of higher learning loans have been reminded to ensure they repay their loans so that the money could be re-loaned to needy Tanzanian students.

Public Relations Officer of the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB), Ms Veneranda Malima, said repayment of the loan helps other underprivileged students who have no economic power to continue with education to realize their dreams.

She made the call during an interview with local radio in Dar es Salaam, noting that a study indicated that many people developed a culture of not repaying the loan thinking that they can simply default since the money belonged to the government.

Ms Malima encouraged the beneficiaries to repay the loans since the government had waived the 6 per cent interest.

Earlier this year, addressing Tanzanian Workers in the Mwanza Region, during the celebration of Labor Day, President Samia Suluhu Hassan issued a directive to remove the 6 per cent interest rate to all loan beneficiaries of the board.

According to HESLB, the interest was introduced as Value Retention Fee (VRF) charged annually on the outstanding loan balance and not the principal loan.

Also, it aimed at increasing the value of loan financing offered to beneficiaries A beneficiary must be a qualified Tanzanian and meet the criteria for obtaining loans in joining higher education institutions.

Ms Malima pointed out that the provision of loan to the higher learning students based on need and not the school that an applicant had studied.

The HESLB has this financial year set aside 570bn/- budget for students’ loan to benefit 160 students. Amount would benefit 160 beneficiaries, 62 are first year students and 98,000 are continuing students.

She further explained that board has been working closely with employers in both public and private institutions under guidelines set to ensure details of loan beneficiaries are submitted to the HESLB on time.

“We are continuing to build data centres in collaboration with various stakeholders including National Identification Authority (NIDA), Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and other institutions to track the loan beneficiaries,” she said