The COVID-19 Student Loan Relief Programme
The Covid-19 Student Loan Relief programme will provide a deferral of student loan principal and interest payments for 3 months (until July 2020) for loans outstanding to the Student Loan Bureau (SLB).
Its, however, important for you to contact the Student Loan Bureau to confirm that this relief was automatically applied to your student loan account. Confirm now to prevent potential issues in the future as no system is error proof.
Application Process
No applications are necessary. The Covid-19 Student Loan Relief automatically applies to all persons repaying student loans to the Student Loan Bureau.
Eligibility of the Student Loan Relief
The Covid-19 Student Loan Relief automatically applies to all persons repaying student loans to the Student Loan Bureau (SLB).
Benefits
For student loans currently in repayment, the Student Loan Bureau will waive late fees for the period April – June 2020 and the Student Loan Bureau will defer all loans in repayment – principal and interest – for three months, of April, May, June of 2020.
Student Loan Bureau will Waive All Late Fees
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*Students in further need of assistance, can apply for a Covid-19 Compassionate Grant.
Additionally CARE Programme Details
By way of the CARE Programme the following amounts** are being provided to other Ministries to assist other categories of Jamaicans who have been affected by the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic:
$200 million will be allocated to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries for assistance to small farmers who have been affected by the Covid Pandemic. Further details will be provided by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.
$150 million will be allocated to the Ministry of Local Government to assist the homeless, those in shelters and the elderly in infirmaries . Further details will be provided by the Ministry of Local Government.
$189 million through the Constituency Development Fund to members of parliament to assist vulnerable Jamaicans, who are not otherwise benefiting, with food, medicine, hygiene supplies and water. Constituents are advised to contact their Member of Parliament. Further details have been provided to Members of Parliament by the Office of the Prime Minister.
**These amounts will be funded by reallocation of expenditure among and within ministries.
About the CARE Programme
The CARE Programme is a temporary cash transfer programme to individuals and businesses to cushion the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The CARE Programme represents the Jamaican society coming together to assist those who are most affected by the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and to put us in the best position to recover and to be stronger than we were before the crisis.
The systems (CARE Programme) to deliver a targeted intervention of this scale, in the required timeframe, do not exist and have to be built from scratch. A multidisciplinary team from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, the Accountant General’s Department, Tax Administration Jamaica and eGov Jamaica Limited have been working around the clock to build the required infrastructure.
Call the helpline 888-4WE-CARE
(888-493-2273)
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As much as is possible, applications to the CARE Programme will be electronic and the online platform will open on April 9, 2020. In addition, those with questions will be able to call the helpline 888-4WE-CARE (888-493-2273).
The CARE Programme is broad in scope with benefits for a wide range of individuals and businesses who are likely to be affected. In addition, there is a Compassionate Grant that anyone can apply for providing that they are not otherwise benefiting from the CARE Programme.
Even then, it will not be possible for the CARE Programme to reach everyone and the Government cannot do it alone. This is a time where all of us, citizens of Jamaica, need to be our “brother’s and sister’s keeper” Let us pull together, rally around and support each other and show that WE CARE.
