Tanzanian graduates with unpaid HESLB loans to be denied 'visas'

Graduates from higher learning education institutions who have not repaid their higher education loans will no longer get permits to travel outside Tanzania until they clear their debts.

The plan is to implement in joint efforts between the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and the Immigration Department.

Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Jenister Mhagama, told the House:

“We will not issue visas to graduates who have acquired loans from the Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB) and not settled the debts.
“We are ready to bring to parliament a list of our plans to recover the loans…and we are determined to get the money back so that it may be used to educate other students.”

She also said that ongoing issuance of national IDs will help HESLB track the defaulters. 

She said the government is considering re-introduction the bond program that was in use in the early 1970s when the government used to sign special bonds with students to ensure that they work in the country for a specific period of time as repayment of their loans before they would be allowed to travel abroad for work.

The Deputy Minister was responding to a question by Namelock Sokoine (CCM-Special Seats) which was asked on her behalf by Betty Machangu (also CCM- Special Seats). 

In her main question, Sokoine wanted to know whether the government had any plans to ensure that graduate teachers who have benefited from education loans do not leave the country without paying them back.

In a supplementary question, Machangu expressed concerns over HESLB’s failure to recover loans from graduates and inquired as to what plans the board has to do so efficiently.

In a related development, Mhagama said a total of 89,500 secondary school teachers are required in the country, but there are only 74,250 of them and to bridge this gap, the government is prioritizing loans to students seeking to become teachers.