National Freedom Front Leader Mr. Wimal Weerawansa has sent a letter to President Ranil Wickramasinghe today (24) requesting him to give an urgent answer to the issue of the delay in the registration of the “Student Loan Scheme 2021/2022 Group” as Finance Minister.
The relevant article is as follows.
Honourable President Ranil Wickramasinghe,
Presidential Secretariat,
Colombo
Honourable President,
Regarding the problem of delay in the registration of selected students for non-government universities under the interest-free student loan scheme operated by the Ministry of Higher Education.
As the Prime Minister at that time, I think you are also aware of the program started by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2017 to allow a certain group of high school students who are not admitted to state universities to continue their studies in non-state universities under a loan scheme based on the Z score, in accordance with the procedure for admitting students to state universities.
We have come to know that five consecutive groups of students have been admitted to non-government universities under that program and that the students selected by the Ministry of Higher Education for the 2021/2022 academic year have not yet had the opportunity to register.
As it is practically difficult to absorb all the students who are qualified for university entrance into the state university system, gradually increasing the number of students who are admitted to those, in a journey of acquiring the great fruits of free education to the students, giving admission to non-government universities under the aforementioned interest-free loan scheme for the students who do not get a chance to enter the state universities is a positive step.
You will also agree that the money we spend as a country on future graduates from state and non-state universities are a good future investment.
On examination of the facts, it appears that the Ministry of Higher Education has had to delay the registration of the above-mentioned group of nearly 15,000 students due to the increase in the loan interest rate for the program by financial institutions including the Bank of Ceylon, which provided financial support for it.
Therefore, as the Minister of Finance, I kindly request you to pay immediate attention to this matter and take appropriate measures to solve the problem of registration of this group of students.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Wimal Weerawansa (MP)
Leader,
National Freedom Front
24.08.2022
