Tanzania launches guide for diploma students' loans
Dar es Salaam. The Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB) has launched a guide for granting loans to diploma students in Tanzania.
The move is part of the government's reforms aimed at improving the education sector and enabling more students to get tertiary education.
The government has allocated Sh48 billion for the 8,000 beneficiaries of the loans for the academic year 2023/2024.
The window to apply for the loans will be open for 15 days, from the 7th to the 22nd of October this year.
All applications will be done through the loans' board website and there will be no need to send any hard copies.
Students who will be given priority are those who will study health and allied sciences, education, energy engineering, mining and earth science, agriculture, and livestock-related programmes.
The chairman of the board of directors of HESLB, Prof Hamisi Dihenga, said the loans will benefit diploma students just the same way they have been to degree students.
The executive secretary of the National Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NACTVET), Dr Adolf Lutaigwa, said that these loans will increase the influence of various students to join colleges in the country.
The president of the Tanzania Higher Learning Institutions Students' Organisation (TAHLISO), Ms Maria Thomas, said that diploma students should follow the guidelines by starting with the verification of certificates so that when the window to apply for a loan opens, they can take advantage of the opportunity.
On top of that, the commissioner for mid-level colleges at TAHLISO, Mr Dennis Mziba, said it is the right time for diploma students to use this opportunity by reading the guide and applying so that they can benefit from the loans
