From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
Benue State Government has launched a loan facility, School Improvement Loan Scheme (SILS), for private school owners in the state to enable them improve on the quality and standard of infrastructure in their various schools.
The loan scheme would be facilitated by the state owned NOVUS Microfinance Bank, through Benue State Quality Assurance Agency (BEQA), and is repayable with very little interest.
The Director General (DG), BEQA, Dr Terna Francis, disclosed this while speaking to newsmen after a meeting with the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Novus Microfinance Bank, Makurdi, Pat Goja and members of the State chapter of the National Association of Private Proprietors of Nigeria (NAPPS).
Terna told newsmen that “The lunch of SILS which means Schools Improvement Loan Scheme, is facilitated by the state Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia. This is his own private sector investment in trying to encourage the private sector participation in the economy.
“The reason is simple: Novus Microfinance bank is a state owned Microfinance bank and recently we went out and discovered that there are deplorable private schools in the state; there are schools that are not up to standard and our job as agents of quality assurance is to ensure standard after evaluating and monitoring schools.
“So with the deplorable level of schools that we found, we decided to come into collaboration with NOVUS Microfinance Bank, His Excellency, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia decided to inject some funding into this school improvement loan scheme.
“It is a window for proprietors of private schools to come and access loan at a very low interest rate so that they will be able to build their schools and ensure that they are up to date and up to the standard that we are asking them to live up to.”
Speaking, the MD/CEO, Novus Microfinance Bank, Pat Goja, explained that the Bank would provide the school with loans at low percent interest rate in it’s partnership with BEQA, to lift the quality of schools in the sector.
While she explained that the Bank would provide for the schools loans, ranging from N500,000 to N10 million, depending on their capacity to repay back the loans, the MD stated that their equity standing, must be at least 10 percent of the facility they would require, insisting that their equity standing would be a major determinant for accessing the facility.
Goja further explained that for the schools to access the facility, they would have acquired a letter of consent from BEQA, as well as provide collateral for the loans, which would be made up of basically movable assets.
She further insisted that for the schools to be able to access the loan facility, they must have a good credit standing with all other banks; their schools must have been in operation, just as the applicants for the loans should not be less than 25 years of age.
Responding, the State Chairman of NAPPS, Mr Sunday Ojo who assured that members of his association would repay the loans given to them, he said the Association would vouch for its members at all times.
The State Chairman, who also stated that NAPPS was aware of the capacity of its members, stressed that the risk factor of granting NAPPS members the facility was very low.
He appreciated the Governor for providing the facility saying “This is a noble initiative, we appreciate it. What Governor Hyacinth Alia has done is a pointer that he is really willing to lift education to higher grounds. We are going to mobilize our members to key into the initiative to improve their schools and we will insist that they pay back.”