Student loans - two sided debate
published: Tuesday | July 1, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Ms. Brown in her letter published in the Gleaner 26 June, rightfully highlighted the government's ineptness at making funds available to students who want to further their studies often in a developed country. Maybe the government's actions or inactions are as a result of the past, where loans are provided and the recipients defaulted on such loans deliberately.
Remember there was a list of names made public not too long ago of some of those who abuse this resource maybe to the detriment of others. I do support such programmes but the responsibilities lies with both sides who enter into such agreements. It is beneficial to society for the government to ensure resources are available to qualified students and aspiring entrepreneurs because these are the future builders of a society. However, many who have received loans or grants to further their studies never return to employ those skills in their home country. They forget the source of funding because those much developed countries offer them jobs, thus contributing to the constant stagnation developing countries like ours face.
When people take their talent to other countries in pursuit of their own self-interest, what then are we left with? I am in no way supporting the government's failure because there are two sides to every debate.
