The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has adopted a new allowance payment structure for beneficiaries of its loan scheme, migrating from a 12-month payment arrangement to a per-session disbursement model.

The fund noted that the change is aimed at strengthening its ongoing efforts to enhance operational efficiency. In a statement made available to journalists by the Director of Strategic Communications, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFUND explained that the disparity in academic calendars made it difficult implementing a uniformed payment schedule.
Oluwatuyi saidthat aligning upkeep disbursements with each institution’s academic session will ensure payments are made to beneficiaries in a timely and relevant manner.

“The second consideration is that the new policy aims to eliminate the risk of duplicating upkeep payments to the same student within the same institution and academic session.

“This will, therefore, help NELFUND to maintain the integrity of its payment system and ensure that funds are utilised effectively by recipients.” It noted that the per-session stipend payment system would provide additional benefits to students, parents, and partner institutions.

According to the Fund, “the per-session upkeep payments will not only be managed in a fair and transparent manner that aligns with each institution’s academic schedule and funds utilised effectively, but will also enable students to receive their stipends on time.”

To guarantee accuracy and accountability, NELFUND stated that its portal was being upgraded to automatically reflect the upkeep loan collected by each student within the relevant academic session.