Gov’t considers scrapping guarantor requirement for SLB loans
Vanassa McKenzie / Our Today
The hassle experienced by many teritiary students in obtaining a guarantor for a loan at the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) is set to less onerous after Prime Minister Andrew Holness hinted that the Government may scrap the guarantor requirement.
Holness made the announcement on Thursday (January 18) during a rap session with 5th-form and 6th-form students at Guy’s Hill High School in St Catherine.
“Let’s start with what is generally available and that is the student loan. You know that this administration has moved the requirement for having two guarantors so now you only need one. But we are now actively considering removing this business of a guarantor,” Holness said.
A guarantor is an individual who promises to pay a borrowers debt, if the borrower defaults on their loan obligation.
In April 2021, the Government announced that students applying for an SLB loan would only be required to provide one guarantor. Wards of the State are not required to provide any guarantors.
“If you qualify under PATH [the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education], if your family is on PATH then you get a grant. A very substantial grant to go to tertiary institutions and if you are a student from an underserved communities, a student who is in a vulnerable situation and you apply they have other grants for which you can apply and your circumstances will be assessed and you can get a grant,” the prime minister explained.
Holness further noted that the Government also provides STEM scholarships for students to study in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“We have also put in place other programmes where we sponsor people in critical skills and there are many scholarships in which you have to go through the Ministry of Finance,” he added.
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