By Leonardo Blair, Staff ReporterA LAST-MINUTE rush by students to submit loan applications to the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) resulted in crowds swelling from tolerable to almost unbearable at the Bureau's offices in St. Andrew, yesterday.
Despite warnings to apply early, hundreds of students from across the island waited until nearly the last minute, (as today is the deadline for applicants) to submit their applications seeking loans to cover tuition fees at various tertiary institutions across the island.
"It's a yearly pattern, but this year is by far the worst I've seen!" said Lenice Barnett, executive director of the SLB.
When The Gleaner called the Bureau's switchboard yesterday, it was Mrs. Barnett who answered the telephone. "I am manning the switchboard to make my staff available," she said amid the buzzing and clattering of computers. "We have had to stop everything else, all my workers are processing loans."
The Bureau's head explained that the crowds have been swelling since last week, despite their aggressive campaign throughout the year informing students to apply early and avoid the rush. She said, however, that while the Bureau has extended deadlines to accommodate late students in the past, today is D-Day.
"We are doing our best to accommodate the students because we will not be extending the deadline, which is tomorrow (today)," she said. "We have given them four months in which to apply, and we have been telling them to apply early."
"Our interviews with students show that they have no reason for not coming in (on time)," she explained.
Up until late yesterday evening, the Bureau, which generally closes its doors at 3:30 p.m., was still busy processing loans. More than 1,000 students had already received tickets to be processed before the Bureau decided on a cut-off point yesterday.
Mrs. Barnett said since last week, students have been arriving at the Bureau before opening hours, some claiming that they have to be processed first as they had slept there the night before.
"I don't know if this is true," she said, "but there are several nights when we have left at 11 p.m. and students were still here," said Mrs. Barnett.
She pleaded with students, however, to break the last-minute cycle, as it contributes in compromising the service the Bureau has to offer.
