Kapil Sibal, India’s Human Resource Development Minister, announced that the National Education Finance Corporation (NEFC) may initiate flexibility in repayment of study loans borrowed by students and also offer easier credit rates for investors in the education sector. While the Planning Commission was reviewing the proposal, it is expected to be financed by the Central Government.
Introduced to benefit students from all backgrounds to pursue higher education, students would be charged an interest rate of 4% on the loan amount and could repay the loan amount once they were employed. This can be proved to be extremely beneficial for those, who might not be privileged to avail an education loan but rather have to take a personal loan with higher interest amounts from private brokers. Mr. Sibal said, “At the moment we are looking at two parts of the Education Finance Corporation, one which guarantees loans to students. The other investment is in the education sector by giving lower credit facilities to investors in the education sector where they have to repay the loans in 20 to 25 years”.
Since this was a part of their national education goal according to the Right to Education Act, which requires at least 25% of seats to be occupied by the underprivileged, he added, “”We will not waver from that goal even an inch. We will give an opportunity to our underprivileged children, legally, by giving 25 percent reservation to them in private schools. This is the agenda of inclusive education. This is the agenda of the federal government and we will not move away from it”.