By Chisomo Phiri
The Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board(HESLGB) has announced an upward adjustment of students tuition and upkeep loans from K280, 000 to K560,000 effective April 1 this year.
Spokesperson for HESLGB Henry Chingaipe disclosed this during a media briefing in Salima district on Friday.
Chingaipe attributed the adjustment to the high cost of living triggered by the kwacha devaluation.
He indicated that 29 thousand students are expected to benefit in the 2024/25 loan application window which starts from May 1 to June 30,2024.
“Stakeholders extensively deliberated on the scenarios that were provided to take into consideration before adjusting the upkeep allowance; specifically, we considered an average inflation rate of 30 percent and the last review of upkeep loans which happened in the academic year 2021-22,” he said.
He added: “Ultimately, they decided on K560,000 as the new upkeep loan, which was derived from the calculation of the current inflation rate compounded over two outward years.
“This translates to a 60 percent upward adjustment applied to the current loan amount of K350,000.”
He said it is worth noting that the K560,000 per student per academic year translates to K280,000 per semester of four months or K70,000 per month within a semester.
On March 6, 2024, President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, in his capacity as Chancellor for the public universities, directed the Ministers of Education and Finance to review the upkeep loans in light of changes in macroeconomic fundamentals.
HESLGB was established in 2015 as one of the reforms for the Ministry of Education in financing higher education.
It is mandated to provide loans and award grants to needy and academically outstanding students, pursuing higher education in accredited institutions of higher learning in Malawi.
 has announced an upward adjustment of students tuition and upkeep loans from K280, 000 to K560,000 effective April 1…){kind=link}