Govt’s new education loan suite to broaden access

The Student Revolving Loan Fund (SRLF), the government agency which lends to citizens for education, mostly overseas, has widened its lending profile to include primary school pupils with a new suite of loan products dubbed EduFlex at its Bridgetown headquarters on Wednesday. 

The initiative, designed to support lifelong learning and skills development, aims to ensure that financial barriers no longer block access to education, the fund said.

Designed to reach a broader cross-section of Barbadians—from primary school pupils to adults seeking to retrain or reskill—the initiative is being hailed as a vital pillar of national development and a clear demonstration of the SRLF’s evolving mandate.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Training and Tertiary Education and chairman of the SRLF, Patrick McCaskie, praised the organisation as one of the best available. 

“I am indeed extremely pleased to support this initiative,” McCaskie said, noting that the SRLF was “one of the best state-owned enterprises in this country out of the 55 that I’m aware of”, thanks to well-structured management and dedicated staff.

EduFlex includes loans for back-to-school expenses, technology, and the professional training, with the back-to-school facility taking centre stage at the launch.

Sandra Husbands, the minister for training and tertiary education, told the audience that the launch marks an important moment in Barbados’ journey towards educational equity and empowerment.

“This loan solution strategy encompasses a suite of loans which have been specifically crafted to assist Barbadians in achieving both their academic and professional goals,” she declared. “Barbados is only as rich as the collective mind power of Barbadians is targeted towards pushing us towards our goals.”

Explaining the rationale behind EduFlex—short for “education flexibility”—the minister said the suite was designed to ensure that no Barbadian is left behind due to financial constraints.

“While it may be perceived that the SRLF caters primarily to recent school leavers, financing from the SRLF is very much available to all Barbadians, irrespective of their age,” she noted. “Barbados now has to reskill and retool all of its citizens, including some that have recently retired.”

The SRLF offers several affordable loan products that facilitate access for all Barbadians to various forms of higher education.

“Without access to these resources, many Barbadians would not have been able to pursue these educational opportunities, whether locally, regionally, or internationally, and as such, their respective aspirations would not have become a reality.”

The benefits of the loans extend beyond those who apply. Husbands emphasised their importance to the economic development of Barbados.

“Government is also aware that for Barbados to evolve and meet the demands of operating in the current global environment, the strategic investment in our people must take centre stage in this evolutionary process,” she said.

The investment would help build the capacity needed to meet national development goals in high-value sectors such as cybersecurity and AI, while also generating foreign exchange by exporting skills globally.

Husbands added: “If the bulk of your population are in low-paying jobs, then your tax revenue is low. If the bulk of your population is in low-paying jobs, consumption for your enterprises is low. The combination of those two will then jeopardise the capacity of Barbados to be able to deliver the social and economic services that it does to its citizens. Barbados can only succeed when our people succeed.”

She also pointed to the Student Revolving Loan Fund Act, which was piloted in Parliament earlier this month. She said it would strengthen the fund’s operations through improvements in corporate governance, an expanded board of directors, and broadened lending capabilities to include parents and guardians.

She stressed the operational goal of the fund: “It is anticipated that the revised regulatory framework, in addition to the previously cited benefits, will result in improvement in its collection effectiveness, resulting in the reduction of the delinquency of its loan portfolio and the SRLF being placed on a trajectory of sustained growth and efficiency.”

Chief Executive Officer of the SRLF, Ambrose Johnson, explained that the EduFlex initiative arose from changing demands in the educational sector and the rising cost of educational tools.

“The educational landscape has changed . . . and we are determined to respond to those changes,” Johnson said. “Our goal at the SRLF is to be able to finance any educational expense that the Barbadian public may have to ensure that there’s no restriction to education because of lack of financing.”

Johnson revealed that interest rates for the loans were set at six per cent for secured and eight per cent for unsecured loans—rates he said were among the most competitive on the market.

Secured loans—backed by a mortgage, land title, government paper, cash, or shares—can help reduce the applicable interest rate.

Since its inception almost 50 years ago, the SRLF has approved over 15 000 loans valued at approximately $400m. In 2023, it received the inaugural Public Sector Award for its outstanding service and successful reorganisation. (LG)