Minister Shaw Announces Reduction in Interests Rates on SLB Loans

The Student Loan Bureau (SLB) will be reducing its interest rates on loans for selected areas of study.

This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, while opening the 2017/18 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (March 9).

He said for study in the areas of Maritime and Logistics, Agriculture, Engineering, and Information and Communication Technologies, interest rates will decline from 9.5 per cent to six per cent.

The interest rates on ‘Pay As You Study’ loans will be lowered from 9.5 per cent to six per cent, and for postgraduate loans, the rates will move from 13 per cent to 9.5 per cent.

The SLB is Jamaica’s premier student loan-financing organisation committed to ensuring that qualified, needy Jamaican students have equal access to financial assistance to pursue tertiary education.

The entity, which began operations in 1970, was made a statutory body in 1971.

In the meantime, Minister Shaw said the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is moving to ensure greater alignment of education and training with the job market.

He informed that the HEART Trust/NTA has developed and launched its Upskilling programme, under which 4,000 persons have been trained, so far.

Through the initiative, persons are being equipped to enhance their skills on the job.

He noted further that the HEART Trust will, this year, accelerate its training programme for unattached young people, giving them a second chance to acquire marketable skills.

Minister Shaw said all 63 constituencies will be targeted this year, with an initial 100 persons being trained in each constituency.