The Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Service says that all loan agreements for students who have studies under various schemes of TELS excluding the In-Service, will be converted to bond agreements.
In a joint press statement, the TSLS and the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service indicated that Parliament had approved the TSLS (Budget Amendment) Act 2023 last Friday with reference to the forgiving of TELS debt.
They said as of July 31, all outstanding TELS debt except for TELS In-Service Scheme will be converted into bond agreement.
The statement said students will not be required to pay their debt, but must demonstrate their service to the country through paid employment.
“The employment can be either in public service or private sector organisation.”
Also, the Study Loan Agreement of continuing and existing students will be converted to bond agreements under this amendment.
The provision of loan repayment in the Study Loan Agreement for these students is superseded by the change in the TSLS Act.
All students are not required to visit TSLS or FRCS to have their agreements changed.
They said those TELS-funded graduates, who are now on bond agreements and intend to migrate before the bond service period ends, will be required to pay the amount owed to the Government for the remaining period of bond service.
