PRESS RELEASE - PROVISIONAL APPROVAL OF ODeL STUDENTS’ LOANS FOR THE 2023/2024 ACADEMIC YEAR UNDER THE SKILLS FOR A VIBRANT ECONOMY (SAVE) PROJECT

The Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour is implementing a Project titled Skills for a Vibrant Economy (SAVE). The project is financed by the World Bank through an International Development Association (IDA) resource facility of US$100 million. The project has a lifespan of five years and commenced in 2022.The overall objective of the project is “to increase access, particularly for females, to labor market-relevant skills development programs in participating institutions, targeting priority areas of the economy”.

The project has three components as follows:

1. Supporting increased access to Skills Development Programs in higher education;
2. Supporting increased access to Technical, Entrepreneurial, and Vocation Education Training (TEVET) skills development;
3. Supporting tertiary education systems strengthening, project management, M&E, and communications.

Under the third component, the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) is administering a loan scheme for degree students that are studying through the Open, Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) modes of study.

The Board has provisionally approved MK651, 715,000.00 for the 2023/24 academic year under the SAVE Project to finance loans to ODeL students in five public Universities/Colleges and one private university.

The Board would like to advise all stakeholders that provisionally approved beneficiaries will undergo a process of vetting and bonding at the time of commencing each institution’s 2023/2024 academic calendar. This is to ensure full compliance with the students’ loans eligibility criteria.

Click the name of the university to access the lists.

1. Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
2. Malawi Assemblies of God University
3. Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences
4. Malawi University of Science and Technology
5. Mzuzu University
6. University of Malawi