Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

The governing People's National Party (PNP) says it is reviewing the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) and has promised to extend the benefits to middle-class parents with a second or third child attending university, if it wins the August 27 general election.

'We are actually reviewing it, looking at the models that are used elsewhere, for example in Britain ... where they don't start paying back until a certain period," Maxine Henry-Wilson, Minister of Education and Youth, told a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday. The forum was held at the newspaper's North Street, central Kingston head office.

expansion

In its manifesto, launched on Thursday, the PNP says it plans to expand and make the SLB more responsive to the needs of students by increasing the amount of funds in the scheme at more concessionary rates, while increasing the grant component. This would allow students to buy books and meals.

"We will enable middle-class parents to participate

in the SLB benefits by offering greater flexibility in assessing the financial impact of a second and third child attending university at the same time," said the PNP's manifesto.

In his remarks, Dr. Peter Phillips, PNP candidate for St. Andrew East Central says 92 per cent of students who applied to the SLB are successful.

However, several students, including those from the lower stratum are usually denied the loan because they do not meet the criteria set by the SLB.

"The Ministry of Finance and the SLB have in fact adjusted over this past year precisely to get lower income persons who have more than one child and as a consequence even though their income levels may be higher are faced with economic constraints, so they have adjusted to facilitate them," Dr. Phillips told the forum.

The PNP's plans for the SLB comes after the Jamaica Labour Party announced its intention to extend the loan repayment period of the SLB from 10 to 15 years and increase the moratorium period to one year. The JLP also promised to reduce the interest rates, which currently stands at 12 per cent per annum.

"It is a good move. Both parties have now realised that there is something wrong with the SLB. I don't know what took the PNP so long," Valdimir Wallace, president of the University of Technology's Students Union told The Gleaner yesterday.

"It (the parties plans to revamp the SLB) can only do good for us as a people, if they stick to their commitment," he added.