She told reporters in Dar es Salaam this week that beneficiaries of the loans were legally bound to repay the loans even if they did not have official employment.
“Graduates should be aware that the board’s loans are just like any other loans from financial institutions,” she stressed.
The minister was responding to a question as to how graduates would afford the repayment while unemployed.
“The board loans are quite similar to those issued by banks which the beneficiary must repay regardless of one’s business progress,” she said.
According to the minster, the financial support aimed to ensure that the students acquired education which prepared them to be self-reliant.
“The loans board must locate the debtors wherever they may be and collect all the outstanding government dues,” Ndalichako stressed.
According to her, there were beneficiaries who had not been able to repay their loans for over 20 years since 1994.
The minister urged all educational bodies including the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) and the Vocational Educational and Training Authority (VETA) to stick to their core functions without interference.
She however pointed out contradictory laws governing some of the bodies, warning that this could hinder growth of the education sector, promising to streamline the laws in the August parliamentary session.
According to her, NACTE has been conducting its duties by interfering with university matters instead of focusing on non-university matters.
“We have also seen NACTE interfering with colleges’ operations by forcing them to receive students with substandard qualifications. This has resulted in the production of underqualified professionals,” she said.
There are colleges whose minimum standards of joining qualifications is at least four passes at O-level, but NACTE has been forcing them receive even students with below the set pass mark, according to the minister.
“Worse still, the organs have been practicing plagiarism through confiscating of one college’s curriculum and using it as their own.
She said although NACTE has been receiving funds for education improvement, it has been misallocating it, hence failure in achieving the targeted goals.
She also directed education institutions which have been practicing cross- border education to considering friendly business as students do pay lot of money, up to Sh12 million annually, simply because the offered certificates are the foreign ones.
The minister directed all education boards to take appropriate measures against dishonest personnel who have been involving themselves in the loss of public funds, adding that the ministry had formed an inspection team for intensive investigation.
