The Director General for the Financial Services Development Division in the Department of Finance, Odile Vidot made the announcement on Thursday.
Vidot said the scheme, which targets persons between ages 18 to 55 years, was launched in partnership with the Central Bank of Seychelles, Seychelles Credit Union, Seychelles Bankers Association, the Ministry of Finance National Planning and Trade, Ministry of Education and several local banks.
“This educational loan provides an additional option to the traditional access to tertiary education through the Ministry of Education for those who want to develop their skills based on the country’s needs”, said the director.
Vidot said the scheme will allow people access to a loan worth a maximum of SCR800,000 ($61,000) with repayment for a maximum of 10 years, starting after the student has graduated.
An interest subsidy of 4 per cent will be provided by the government which will result in interest borne by the borrower being the credit granting institution’s interest rate, less 4 percent.
Vidot explained that not all types of courses will be eligible for access to the loan. A list of eligible areas has been drawn up based on the human resource needs of the country.
Some of these areas of study include medicine, information technology, marine biology, telecommunications, statistics, and law among others.
“The list of priority areas has been drawn up to ensure the scheme caters for sectors in need of qualified personnel and to also ensure all graduates will have job openings in their respected areas,” Vidot said.
Interested persons will have to approach the institutions to commence the application process, after which they will contact the Seychelles Qualification Authority with details of the institutions and course for their verification and approval.
Vidot said there is already a great interest in this scheme and people are requesting more information.
She added that the government is encouraging people to take advantage of this facility for professional growth.
A budget of SCR 8 million ($605,000 ) has been allocated in the 2023 budget for payment of the interest rate subsidy under the scheme.
