Government seeking to write off $5B in student loans by year-end

In keeping with its manifesto promise to provide free education at the University of Guyana, the People’s Progressive Party Administration is this year seeking to write off the loans of some 2,900 students, totalling approximately $5 billion.
During his weekly press conference, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has urged former University of Guyana students with outstanding loans to apply for the write-off programme by stating, “If more people come in, we would write all of it off in a single year; the full $18 billion, once they are eligible. I want to urge the students who have outstanding debts to just apply for the write-off, so that we can proceed with doing so. It will be a pretty large number of students — thousands of them.”
Some 346 students have already had their loans — amounting to $203.7 million — written-off, according to the 2024 Mid-Year Report of the Ministry of Finance.

Government had announced this student loan write-off programme in its 2024 budget, presented earlier this year. Phase one of this programme is expected to benefit around 13,000 individuals and forgive a staggering $11 billion in loans. The overall plan is to eventually write off a total of $18 billion in student loans.
The student loan write-off is a key component of the People’s Progressive Party’s 2020 manifesto, and represents the initial steps toward achieving free university education by 2025.
Apart from the loan write-off initiative, Government has been actively promoting the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme, which offers free university education opportunities. To date, Government has invested $1.6 billion in scholarships through this programme; and as at May 2024, over 4,000 individuals have graduated with degrees, diplomas and certificates while an impressive 8,023 GOAL scholarships have been awarded for studies that commenced in September 2024.
It was reported earlier this week that a total of 346 UG students have had their student loans written off as Government commences phrase one of its Student Loan Write Off Programme. According to the Finance Ministry’s 2024 Mid-Year Report, approximately $203.7 million in student loans has been written off by Government.
Beneficiaries of this phase are former students who were able to prove they had completed their course of study and had graduated; and subsequent to graduation, have been employed or self-employed in Guyana for a minimum of three years, as evidenced by a minimum of 156 contributions made to the National Insurance Scheme.
An additional 2,900 persons who have qualified for this student loan write-off would benefit from the initiative in this second half of the year; and overall, 13,000 Guyanese would benefit from this initiative implemented by Government. The programme, which aims to make tertiary education free by 2025, is the brainchild of President Dr Irfaan Ali, and its implementation follows a promise made in the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) 2020-2025 manifesto plans.
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has noted that a mechanism would be implemented to assist students who have already paid their dues to the University of Guyana but are repaying loans at commercial banks. In one of his weekly press conferences, the Vice President had said that with provisions having already been made to waive outstanding student loans acquired within the current term in office of this administration, and given that the intent is to make tertiary education free, this feature is already technically effective.
However, Dr Jagdeo, in expressing concerns about the potential escalation of costs during this transition, and in emphasising the importance of quality education being delivered in alignment with the country’s needs, has suggested that a strategic approach to tertiary education be implemented, that includes sourcing technical training programmes from other institutions instead of immediately establishing new programmes at UG.
“UG will always have a critical role to deliver tertiary education, a prime role in our country. This is our university, and we should keep it as such, and we need to fund it well and improve it,” Jagdeo has asserted as he stressed the importance of providing quality education that meets the country’s needs and helps students secure valuable employment after graduation.
Ultimately, he said, Government is dedicated to adequately financing the university and enhancing its role in delivering quality tertiary education to all students in Guyana. In the meantime, opportunities are also available to acquire an education through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme, which has seen the Government partnering with educational institutions around the world to offer courses that would meet the challenges and demands of various sectors in Guyana, including the oil and gas, engineering and construction, and information security sectors.
According to the Vice President, the anticipated influx of higher qualified persons into the workforce would create in the public and private sectors conditions that have to be addressed.
Government has, through GOAL, already distributed over 20,000 online scholarships in 187 programmes that can be accessed from 15 reputable academic institutions across the world, including in India, Africa, the United Kingdom and Germany.
According to the mid-year report, the first half of 2024 has seen 8,023 GOAL scholarships being awarded to persons who have commenced studying in September 2024.