Parliament adopts ‘students’ Loan Bill’ report
Parliament on Tuesday afternoon approved the observations and recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Technology regarding the Higher Education Students’ Loan Bill.
The House sent the Bill to the committee for further scrutiny after it was tabled on February 5.
Among other recommendations, the committee, which met on February 14 and 15, expressed the need for consistency in the use of terminologies in the Bill as some terms are used in other Acts of Parliament. They also stressed the need to include additional terms in the Bill.
The committee further suggested a change of name and title of the Bill from Higher Education Students’ Loan Bill to Higher Education Students’ Loan and Grant Bill.
“This is because we noted that the Bill covers both loans and grants,’’ said chairperson of the committee, Elias Chakwera, reading the report.
He argued that the committee had looked into the concerns raised by MPs regarding the Bill and stated that all stakeholders involved supported the Bill.
Chakwera said: “We had interactive dialogue with stakeholders such as Chancellor College, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources(Luanar), Mzuzu University and public university unions which included the students themselves.”
Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsanje South West Joseph Malunga (Independent) agreed with the report and explained to the House why the document needed to be adopted and the Bill passed.
Said Malunga: “Every government must be committed to education, there are so many young men and women waiting for this Bill. Nobody should be denied access to higher education because they are poor.”
Also supporting the Bill was Salima North MP Jessie Kabwila (Malawi Congress Party-MCP) who acknowledged that the report was a result of wide consultation.
Said Kabwila:“It [the report] has looked at all governance issues. However, we need to ensure that the loan should go hand in hand with the national IDs programme to prevent any abuse. It should be enjoyed by those people who really need it.”
After a few remarks by the other members, a motion was moved and the report adopted.
