Bill before Parliament soon:

Bank loans for students without guarantees

by Ranil Wijayapala

The Higher Education Ministry will present the Human Capital Finance Development Bill in Parliament soon to enable students aspiring for higher education to obtain loans from banks for higher studies without guarantees, Minister S.B. Dissanayake said.

"The Legal Draftsman's Department has referred the draft Bill to the Higher Education Ministry after making changes and it is now ready to be presented in Parliament.

The Bill will be presented to Parliament next month", the Minister said. With the implementation of this Bill, students will have an opportunity to obtain bank loans without any hassle as the law will provide legal provisions to make them pay back their loans when they are employed.

The Bill when passed in the Parliament will also make provisions for employers providing jobs to these students to pay the loan instalments to the Bank from their salaries.

Minister Dissanayake said that some banks are already providing loans for students for their higher education and when the Bill is passed in Parliament it will provide the legal background for them to go ahead with such loans.