| Training Loan Fund |
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The Training Act, Cap.35 Section 4 (2) of the Training Act, Cap.35 provides that the Minister may, subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed, make loans from the Loan Fund to any person mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (e) of Section 3 (2) for the purpose of assisting that person to pursue a course of study or training course approved by the Minister. The persons mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (e) of Section 3 (2) are:
(a) public officers (b) public employees (c) teachers (d) officers of statutory board; or (e) such other persons as the Minister may determine.
1. Training Administration Division in exercise of the management of the Training Loan Fund cited in Section 4 of the Training Act prescribes the following administrative procedures and relative criteria for disbursement of loans from the Training Loan Fund:
(a) JOB RELEVANCE Assessment of the type of course being pursued in relation to individual development needs, job relevance, career stream requirements and the priority areas of public service/national development goals.
(b) STATUS OF TRAINING/STUDY LEAVE APPLICATIONS Assessment of the status of any Training/Study Leave applications submitted in respect of the candidate will also be carried out.
(c) OTHER LOANS NEGOTIATED FOR TRAINING PURPOSES Candidates will be required to submit information relative to the status of any previous Loan and any other loans being negotiated for Training purposes, e.g. Students Revolving Loan Fund, Other Sources
(d) CERTIFICATE OF ADMISSION AND/OR FINAL REGISTRATION LETTER Candidates will be required to submit a Certificate of Admission and/or Final Registration Letter from the Institution where such studies are to be undertaken. (d) COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL/OVERSEAS COURSES Request for Loans to pursue overseas courses will be reviewed in light of the availability of Local Institutions which provide similar levels of training.
(f) COMMENTS FROM MINISTRY/DEPARTMENT The comments of the Ministry/Department will be sought in such cases where no Training/Study Leave application has been submitted.
(g) CORRESPONDENCE COURSES In such cases where a loan is being requested for a Correspondence Course, all fees will be paid by Training Administration direct to the institution upon receipt of an invoice submitted by the said institution.
(h) PROGRESS REPORTS In order to ensure that full benefit is derived from the loan in respect of studies being undertaken, Progress Reports and/or results of examinations taken shall be submitted to Training Administration on a termly basis or at such intervals deemed necessary by Training Administration Division.
2. Bonding When a loan has been approved, the applicant is required to enter into a bond to repay to the Crown the amount of the loan. Two sureties are required.
3. Sureties It is important that the Sureties are employed in a Ministry/Department different from that of the applicant.
4. Repayment of Loans Simple interest at the rate of 4% is charged on each loan. Applicants are required to sign Agreement Forms for repayment of their loans. These forms must be returned together with the bonds before the loan is paid. The repayment period for loans is as follows:
Loan Repayment Period $5 000 5 years 3 500 3 1/2 years 2 500 2 1/2 years 2 000 2 years 1 500 1 1/2 years 150 - $500 Six months 250 - $50 Three months
5. Authorised Deductions from Salary Applicants are also required to sign and return to Training Administration Division a prescribed Authorization Form requesting the Heads of their Ministries/ Departments to make monthly deductions from their salaries to be credited to the Training Loan Fund. Repayments shall commence immediately after the loanees have completed their courses of study. When Loans are granted to persons pursuing correspondence courses, such persons are required to commence repayments in the month immediately following receipt of the Loan.
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