By Loveness Lega:
The Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) is racing against time to recover the projected K1.5 billion from former beneficiaries by the end of the 2025-26 financial year.
Only 47 days are remaining before the start of the 2026-27 financial year on April 1 this year.
However, HESLGB Communication Manager Millie Kasunda said they were optimistic that they would meet the target.
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She told The Daily Times Wednesday that, by January this year, the board had collected over K800 million, which, she said, gives them confidence that they are on course to meeting the set target.
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Kasunda said, apart from conducting awareness campaigns, the law allows them to take to court individuals who are failing to service their loans.
She said this extends to employers who are not cooperating with them on the issue of deducting money from employees who got loans from the board.
“We are confident that this will work out because we are also conducting some campaigns on this matter and we are glad that some people are coming on their own to pay back their loans,” Kasunda said.
Meanwhile, one of the students’ representatives at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Francis Alex, said they, too, had a role to play in promoting awareness on loan repayment responsibilities.
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“We commit to being ambassadors of the Loans Board’s mission and values. We maintain close communication with the Loans Board team to facilitate effective message delivery supporting the sustainability of the programme,” Alex said.
During the 2024-25 financial year, the board disbursed over K36 billion, reaching out to over 33,000 vulnerable students in both public and private education institutions.
