Master’s muck up

FOR THE last six years, Alvan Ross has been repaying a loan to the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) that he never received in the first place.

The 52-year-old guidance counsellor explained that he was approved for a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) loan from the agency in 2017 to pursue a Master’s of Education degree at the International College of the Caribbean.

But a year after he started the programme, he was forced to stop taking courses, which he initially thought was an issue with the school.

However, after years of not getting any clear communication from the school, he was informed in May this year that he was unable to register for courses because no money was deposited by the SLB for his tuition.

But during this time, he said a monthly withdrawal of over $18,000 was being deducted from his salary as repayment for the loan, which stopped in September.

“I have some level of ‘lackadaisy’ in the process,” he said, admitting that he could have enquired about the issue earlier.

“I wasn’t as stringent as I should have been in terms of tracking it, why I’m not getting the classes, even though I keep hearing different things … . I’ve been concerned, but I was never concerned about SLB because I never thought it was their fault or anything that they did.”

When he eventually enquired six months ago, he was informed that his accumulated payments, which he estimates to be approximately $1.2 million, would be refunded to him.

Since then, he said the communication with the agency has dwindled and it has left him feeling frustrated.

“We’ve been in a battle since then. They’ve sent me paperwork to fill out, a request for refund, and banking information for where they would send the monies and all of that, but I still not hearing anything from the SLB after all this time,” he told The Gleaner.

Although he enquired, Ross said he was not given a reason why the loan was not disbursed.

However, he was told that the agency would be doing an investigation.

Ross bemoaned how the situation has impacted his career development and emotional well-being.

“The value that I have lost cannot be quantified because if I had gotten the monies, then I wouldn’t be hindered from doing courses and getting into classes, I would have finished this thing before and probably move on if I want to,” he said.

“It just creates stress for me and the family. It creates stress for me at work; there’s no promotion, there’s no movement because I can’t finish this degree. I have about four or so courses left, plus the research part, but nothing … . I just cannot go on.”

The SLB, in an email response to queries by The Gleaner, said it was unable to relay any personal information regarding Ross as it has not obtained explicit content from him.

But Ross, who is a clergyman and justice of the peace, is adamant that the SLB should refund him promptly.

“I thought by now, I would have gotten a shut-door thing where ‘please check your account’ and that would be it,” he said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com