Her life-long ambition of attending university will soon be fulfilled and Shinal Lal is all praises for the Tertiary Education Loan Scheme (TELS) for enabling her to do just that.

The 18-year-old from Kinoya had high hopes of attending the University of the South Pacific (USP) and, thanks to TELS, she is taking the first step towards attaining a tertiary qualification.

“I have enrolled in the Bachelor of Commerce (BCOM) programme majoring in Accounting and Information Systems at USP,” she said.

Shinal submitted her TELS application yesterday and is eagerly awaiting confirmation.

“My father is a taxi driver and is the sole breadwinner for the family, so I cannot put all the financial burden of my education on him,” she said.

“My family does not have the financial backing to put me through university, so if it was not for TELS I would not have been able to continue further studies. My sister has studied through TELS and it really makes things easier for my parents.”

Another hopeful applicant at the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Board (TSLB) Office yesterday was Shimran Narayan.

The 18-year-old scored 357/400 in the Fiji Year 13 Examination and is hoping to receive a National Toppers scholarship.

The Nasinu resident is also pursuing BCOM studies at USP.

“I applied for a scholarship, but if I do not get it then I have been assured that I will automatically qualify for TELS. It is good because if students do not get scholarships,then they can at least bank on TELS,” she said.

As of Friday last week TSLB received 4113 applications, said chief executive officer Bobby Maharaj.

He added the numbers are likely to escalate over the weekend, especially for online applications since the deadline for 2019 applications is Monday December 31, 2018.

Edited by Epineri Vula

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