Persons Pursuing Higher Education Encouraged to Utilise SLB Benefits

Persons wishing to pursue higher education are being encouraged to make use of the benefits available at the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB).

The entity recently relaunched its Grant-in-Aid facility, which is tailored for students who are on the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH), are wards of the State, or are from households where the income is below $1.5 million.

It is intended to provide financially challenged students with supplementary assistance for school-related expenses.

SLB Executive Director, Nickeisha Walsh, explained that the grant-in-aid is a “non-refundable gift that we give students who are eligible and have applied for the targeted loan”.

She reiterated that students who are wards of the State or PATH beneficiaries are no longer required to have a guarantor to access funding assistance.

“We are expecting, this year, to see [an] increase in applications because… one of the challenges students have mentioned over the years is the ability to seek out and have a guarantor,” Ms. Walsh pointed out.

She encouraged persons to regard the SLB as a stepping stone for success.

“Many Jamaicans have benefited from the SLB; I myself am a beneficiary. The SLB is here for persons to achieve their dreams. Do not look at the SLB as a loan, don’t look at it as a liability, because we know that education is an investment. What the SLB does is help you to invest in yourself and help you to have the ability to pursue any dream or career that you want to,” Ms. Walsh stated.