SLB spent $57.1M on non-functioning management system

Syranno Baines, Gleaner Writer

The $57.1 million Loan Management System (LMS) software acquired by the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) in 2012 cannot adequately support the operations of the organisation and plans are being made to implement a new enterprise management information system, SLB executive director Monica Brown has disclosed.

Brown’s disclosure came against the background of a performance audit by the Auditor General’s Department which sought to ascertain whether the SLB managed its loan collection and enforcement activities in a meaningfully way towards the sustainability of the Revolving Loan Fund. 

The audit showed that the SLB did not obtain full value for the $57.1 million paid to the supplier of the LMS as the software could not accurately identify the loan balance of each beneficiary in a timely manner.

It further highlighted that a number of features of the LMS were non-functional, resulting in the need for extensive manual reconciliation with other internal electronic platforms to verify loans balances.

This, the audit stated, contributed to significant delays in the updating and maintenance of beneficiary loan accounts and the identification of non-recoverable loans.

“When LMS was implemented in 2012 it was the hope that this would be adequate for the needs of the bureau, it turns out that it wasn’t and the board then recognised early in the day and gave approval for us to start looking at getting a new system,” Brown told members of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday.  

“A committee was established then and much work was done by that committee in terms of the initial information gathering and planning and so on,” added Brown.

“….We acquired the services of a project manager and he started his work in July. So far the requirements gathering have been completed and presentations have been made to the board as to the progress that has been made by the project manager,” Brown said.

The project is scheduled to be implemented over 18-24 months.

Meanwhile, over the five-year financial period 2012/13 to 2016/17, the SLB approved 96 per cent of loan applications.

However, only 77 per cent accessed a total of $17.02 billion, with annual disbursement averaging $3.4 billion.

The SLB identified applicants receiving scholarships, obtaining part-time employment or deferring their studies as reasons for the less than 100 per cent take-up of approved loans.

At the same time, the number of beneficiaries accessing student loans declined by 17 per cent to 9,742 in 2016-17, from 11,512 in 2012-13.

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