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GOVERNMENT will transform the Bursaries Committee into a loans board to oversee what will now be a revolving fund.
Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education spokesperson Hilary Chipango said that the decision to transform the committee into a loan scheme was made in 2004 but was not implemented.
“As a way of operationalising the scheme, the ministry is transforming the bursaries scheme into a loans board. It is the board which will oversee a revolving fund,” Mr Chipango said.
In a statement, Mr Chipango also said that the trends analysis shows that the number of students from the University of Zambia (UNZA) and the Copperbelt University (CBU) has been steadily increasing.
He said that the budget for first year students this year at UNZA will only cater for 2,420 students, hence making it difficult for Government to increase the number of sponsored students to 6,000.
He said that on average, Government spends a total of K25,833.00 per year for each sponsored student at UNZA on accommodation, meals, tuition fees and allowances.
Mr Chipango said that to sponsor all the 6,000 first year students at UNZA alone, a total of K154,999, 811.94 would be required.
He said in the case of CBU, there are a total of 1, 785 first year students for 2014 with each sponsored student receiving on average K25,833.00 bringing the total to K46,112,444.05.
Mr Chipango urged UNZA and CBU managements to expand their distance, evening and parallel programmes and scale up their income.
Zambia Daily Mail
