The "Educational Student Loan Fund" was established

Baku/17.06.21/Turan: The head of the state, Ilham Aliyev has issued a decree on the creation of a new structure - the "Educational Student Loan Fund" under the Ministry of Education with an authorized fund of 80 million manats.

The Fund has been set up to ensure access to education for citizens with low incomes and create equal opportunities for education, the document says.

The Fund will operate as a non-profit legal entity. At the same time, it is not directly involved in the provision of student loans. This function will be performed by credit organizations.

The 7-member Board of Trustees has been established on a voluntary basis to ensure the overall management and supervision of the Fund's activities. The Board approves annual interest rates on standard and social educational student loans, as well as the upper limit on the amount of educational student loans with due regard for the amount of annual tuition fees for students of various specialties provided for admission for each academic year. The current management of the Fund's activities is carried out by a 3-person Management Board.

According to the decree, the Cabinet of Ministers will approve the procedure for issuing student loans at the expense of the Fund within a month.

In the 2020/2021 academic year, the number of students studying in 40 state and 12 non-state higher educational institutions, as well as in 26 scientific organizations that train bachelors and masters, is 198.700 people. In 2020, 405.000 students entered the country's universities. --08D—