[Source: TELS / Website]

The Tertiary Scholarship and Loan Service board says no discussions have been held so far with the Education Minister to forgive the debts of tertiary TELS students.

This despite comments from Penuel Emi, the wife of Assistant Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel who had posted on her Facebook page that active discussions ensured during the meeting and as the meeting progressed $600m in TELS students’ loans was forgiven and cancelled.

However, TSLS Board has confirmed with FBC News that it has only met with line Ministers and Assistant Ministers with their permanent secretaries on December 28th for general discussions about TELS.

The TSLS says the meeting was primarily focused on information gathering and no discussion took place on policy changes or the eradication of TELS.

It says the Board welcomed the new Ministers and Assistant Ministers and gave assurance to be guided by them on policy direction and implementations.

There is still no word from the government on how long it will take to fulfill its promise to abolish TSLS.

It’s also not known what criteria will be used to compensate over 8, 000 students who are currently studying under the loans scheme or if all 8, 000 students will be given a scholarship annually.

Penuel Emi, the wife of Assistant Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel has since removed her Facebook post.