KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People’s National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) has called on Education Minister Ruel Reid to clarify the current state of funding set aside for the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB).

The youth organisation of the Opposition party wands Reid to address the pressing matter of “a shortfall in the subvention provided to the Bureau in the 2017/2018 budget in comparison to that provided in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 respectively.”

In a release this afternoon, PNPYO said it is imperative for the minister to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to make the SLB a viable entity in order to fulfil its mandate of providing funding to the tertiary education sector. 

Yesterday, Opposition Spokesman on Finance Dr Peter Phillips said the Government had reduced the capital budget of the Students’ Loan Bureau by $100 million.

Finance Minister Audley Shaw made no mention of such a cut in his March 9 budget presentation, but announced that interest rates on Pay As You Study loans would be lowered from 9.5 per cent to 6 per cent; interest rates on postgraduate loans will move from 13 per cent to 9.5 per cent, while interest rates will decline from 9.5 per cent to 6 per cent for study in the areas of maritime and logistics, agriculture, engineering, and information and communications technology.

The PNPYO, however called on the Government to reduce the interest rates on SLB loans to all borrowers rather than selected groups, and create an education trust fund using money collected through the education tax.