Cabinet to rule on student loans
Cabinet would decide what to do about university students that received funds from the Income-Contingent Loan programme, now that it no longer exists, the Office of the Higher Education commission (Ohec) said yesterday.
The scheme, launched by the previous administration last year, offered loans to new university students regardless of their financial status. The loan amount was subject to inflation and recipients were only required to repay the money when they earned more than Bt16,000 a month."The Cabinet will decide, based on students' benefits and the availability of budget," Ohec secretary-general Krissanapong Kirtikara said yesterday. About 320,000 students enrolled in the programme, but the interim government decided earlier this year to cancel it. The other main student-loan programme gives soft loans only to students from families with an annual income of less than Bt150,000. "There are many proposals the Cabinet will review," Krissanapong said. One proposal is that registered students be eligible to receive loans based on the same conditions. Another proposal is that all registered students be transferred to the other loan programme, except those whose qualifications don't fit its requirements. (About 100,000 of the ICL-registered students come from families with an annual income of over Bt150,000). "For those students who cannot register in another student-loan programme, the Cabinet should facilitate alternative loans for them," Krissanapong said.
|
