HIGHER EDUCATION LOANS AND SCHOLARSHIPS BOARD RECOVERS OVER K90 MILLION THIS YEAR
The Higher Education Loans and Scholarships Board-HELSB- has recovered over K90 million from student beneficiaries this year.
Speaking during a half year media breakfast in Lusaka this morning, Board Chief Executive Officer John Machayi says this brings the total cumulative recovered amount from 2018 to about K592 million.
Dr Machayi explains that in the last six months, the board has undertaken a rigorous resource mobilization program for loan recoveries, aiming to create a sustainable revolving fund and that currently, 10,692 beneficiaries are paying back through the government payroll.
He has disclosed that 7,617 beneficiaries are employed in the private sector and are paying back through individual employers’ payroll systems, bringing the total number of those paying back to 18,309 out of 40,681 beneficiaries who have been traced.
And Dr Machayi says the board is faced with budgetary constraints which has affected the number of eligible applicants to consider for awards as the current funding levels are insufficient to award all eligible students.