Dear Editor,

The person who articulated the concept that “the more things change, the more they remain the same” is nothing but a genius.

For with all the modernisation and focus on transforming the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB), things are the same or even getting worse. I say getting worse because 20 years ago when I accessed a student’s loan I did not encounter any long delays with the processing and approval of my loan. My only concern was securing guarantors.

When will the SLB get it right? With all the technology and use of online platforms for application and processing fee payments, students are being disadvantaged for lack of timely approval of loans. Several hundreds of tertiary students face deregistration from their institutions and may be barred from doing their exams if their fees are not paid within a certain time frame.

When a student gets a notification from The University of the West Indies that tuition fees must be paid by January 13, 2023, nerves start kicking in if you’ve been waiting on the SLB’s response since August 2022.

This is January 2023, the start of semester two. It is very unfortunate that SLB cannot inform all its applicants whether they are approved in a timely manner.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that when you attempt to call to follow up on progress of your application you seldom get through. The phone lines are jammed, your e-mails are not responded to, and the workers seem not to follow through with promises to address your concerns.

SLB, it is a shame that applicants have to wait so long to figure out their fate when their entire future hangs on it. Don’t forget, too, that it is a loan (not free money), so they will have to repay. Please remove some of the hassle so that students can focus on their studies.

We hope that the leadership of SLB will do all to rectify the problems so that they can serve the students’ interest.

We demand immediate action!

Marie T Henry bchild862@gmail.com