Education loans have few takers

Continued efforts by the government to push education loans has found a few takers as less than 3 per cent students avail them due to procedural difficulties, a study has said.

In the US and some of the European countries, on the contrary, the figure ranges between 70-85 per cent. Eightyfive per cent of students in the UK avail education loans while for the US and Germany, the figures stand at 77 per cent and 70 per cent respectively. "Though there are many schemes for providing financial aid to poor students, the amount given is awfully low and procedure to get are very cumbersome and that is why the percentage for education loan seekers is extremely low," the study conducted by Assocham said.

The US spends nearly 80 billion dollar on higher education annually, mostly in the form of students aid, while India has allocated about $ 3.5 million for its flagship merit-cum-means scholarship schemes, Assocham Education Committee Chairman Vinay Rai said.

The study also said higher education in India has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, primarily driven by the private sector initiative. "Public expenditure is not even 0.5 per cent of the GNP (Gross National Product)." "Education in India needs additional investment of nearly Rs 1,00,000 crore to Rs 1,20,000 crore against present investment of Rs 91,000 crore per year." the study suggested. — PTI