1 NV Long “Financing higher education in an imperfect world” (2018) Economics of Education Review 1 at 1.

2 Johnstone, DB “Higher education finance and accessibility: Tuition fees and student loans in sub-Saharan Africa” (2004) 2/2 Journal of Higher Education in Africa 11 at 12Google Scholar. See also Goodell, JW “Do for-profit universities induce bad student loans” (2016) 61 The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 173 at 174CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Johnstone, ibid.

4 Human Development Department, Vietnam Country Management Unit Programme Document for the Higher Education Development Policy Programme: First Operation” (HEDPP01, report no 47492-VN prepared for the World Bank, 2009) at 8; Altbach, S “One-third of the globe: The future of higher education in China and India” (2009) 39/1 Prospects 11 at 20CrossRefGoogle Scholar; George, ES “Positioning higher education for the knowledge based economy” (2006) 52/4 Higher Education 589 at 595CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Accelerating Catch-Up: Tertiary Education for Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (2009, World Bank) at 6, available at: <https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/2589/462750Revised017808213773830Revised.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y> (last accessed 4 November 2020).

6 “On the edge: Securing a sustainable future for higher education: Challenges for policymakers and institutions” (announcement of an international conference organized by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the OECD Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education, Paris, 8–9 January 2004), available at: <http://www.oecd.org/education/imhe/19637287.PDF > (last accessed 4 November 2020); Accelerating Catch-Up, id at xxi.

7 Accelerating Catch-Up, id at 19; DB Johnstone “The financing and management of higher education: A status report on worldwide reforms” (paper prepared for the World Bank, 1998).

8 Wangenge-Ouma, G “Globalisation and higher education funding policy shifts in Kenya” (2008) 30/3 Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 215 at 215CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 PG Altbach et al Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution (report prepared for the UNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher Education, 2009) at 67; A Chubrik et al The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Public Expenditures on Education and Health in the Economies of the Former Soviet Union (CASE Network report, 2011) at 100.

10 World Bank “Mexico: Higher education financing” (2007), available at: <http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/254011474628468569/Mexico-Higher-Education-Financing> (last accessed 4 November 2020); Johnstone “Higher education finance”, above at note 2.

11 Marcucci, PN and Johnstone, DB “Tuition fee policies in a comparative perspective: Theoretical and political rationales” (2009) 29/1 Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 25 at 25Google Scholar; J Salmi “Student loans in an international perspective: The World Bank experience” (World Bank working paper, January 2003) at 12; BS Han et al “Student loan and credit risk in Korea” (2015) 135 Economics Letters 121 at 121.

12 Johnstone, DB and Shrooff-Mehta, P “Higher education finance and accessibility: An international comparative examination of tuition and finance assistance policies” in Eggins, H (ed) Globalization and Reform in Higher Education (2003, Open University Press) 32 at 33–34Google Scholar.

13 DB Johnstone “Students loans in international perspective: Promises and failures, myths and partial truths” (2011), available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247662572> (last accessed 4 November 2020).

14 LJ Lochner and A Monge-Naranjo “Students loans and repayment: Theory, evidence and policy” (CIBC Centre for Human Capital and Productivity working papers, 2014–15) at 8.

15 Toress, CA and Schugurensky, D “The political economy of higher education in the era of neo-liberal globalisation: Latin America in comparative perspective” (2002) 43/4 Higher Education 429 at 429Google Scholar.

16 The Constitution of Lesotho 1993, art 28(d).

17 Act No 8 of 1978, Supplement No 3 to Gazette No 31 of 25 August 1978.

18 Loan Bursary Fund Regulations 20 of 1978: Legal Notice No 20 of 1978, Supplement No 1 to Gazette No 29 of 11 August 1978.

19 NMDC Act, preamble.

20 LBFR, reg 3(1) and (3).

21 NMDC Act, sec 3.

22 Id, sec 10.

23 Id, sec 2.

24 Id, sec 10(2)(a).

25 Id, sec 10(2)(b).

26 Id, sec 10(2)(c).

27 Id, sec 10(2)(d).

28 Id, sec 10(2)(f).

29 LBFR, reg 5(a)–(d).

30 Loan bursary agreement, clause 3(a), (b), (c) and (d).

31 As the government of Lesotho provides higher education financing in a form of loan bursaries, these concepts must be explained. Under section 2 of the NMDC Act, a “bursary” is defined as “payment by Government of University, College, post-secondary institutions, or hostel fees or allowances to, or on behalf of a student undergoing an educational course and any other disbursements and expenditure for or on behalf of a student in connection with that course, and includes donor funded bursaries channelled through Government”. A student “loan” on the other hand consists of money that a student borrows to cover the costs associated with higher education expenses that needs to be repaid with interest upon the completion of the student's education. This type of financial assistance can be granted either by government or some financial institutions. See Cho, SH, Xu, Y and Kiss, DE “Understanding student loan decision: A literature review” (2015) 43/3 Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences 229 at 233Google Scholar.

32 Loan Bursary Agreement, clause 1.

33 LBFR, reg 7(3). The parties conclude what is called a loan bursary agreement.

34 Loan bursary agreement, clause 2 (a)–(f).

35 Id, clause 2(g).

36 Id, clause 2(h).

37 Id, clause 3(a).

38 Id, clause 3(b) and (c)(i) and (ii).

39 Id, clause 3(d)–(f).

40 LBFR, reg 11(3).

41 Id, reg 8(1).

42 Ibid.

43 Id, reg 8(2) and loan bursary agreement, clause 9(i).

44 LBFR, reg 8(4) and (5) and loan bursary agreement, clause 9(ii) and (iii).

45 LBFR, reg 8(6).

46 Long “Financing higher education”, above at note 1 at 6.

47 LBFR, reg 9(1).

48 Id, reg 9(2).

49 Id, reg 9(2)(a)–(c).

50 Chapman, B and Liu, AYC “Repayment burdens of student loans in Vietnamese higher education” (2013) 37 Economics of Education Review 298 at 298CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

51 Ibid.

52 Ibid.

53 Chapman, B and Lounkaew, K “Income contingent student loans for Thailand: Alternatives compared” (2010) 29/5 Economics of Education Review 695 at 696CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

54 Chapman, B and Suryadarma, D “Financing higher education: The viability of a commercial student loan scheme in Indonesia” in Suryadarma, D and Jones, GW (eds) Education in Indonesia (2013, ISEAS Publishing) 203 at 210Google Scholar.

55 Chapman and Liu “Repayment burdens”, above at note 50 at 300.

56 B Chapman “Income contingent loans in higher education financing” (2016) IZA World of Labor, available at: <https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/227/pdfs/income-contingent-loans-in-higher-education-financing.pdf> (last accessed 20 November 2020).

57 Chapman, B and Lounkaew, K “The effects of different loan schemes for higher education tuition: An analysis of rates of return and tuition revenue in Thailand” (2011) 34/20 Higher Education in Europe 211 at 215Google Scholar.

58 Chapman, B and Doris, A “Modelling higher education financing reform for Ireland” (2019) 71 Economics of Education Review 109CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775717301760> (last accessed 4 November 2020).

59 Ziderman, A “Alternative objectives of national student loans schemes: Implications for design, evaluation and policy” (2002) 11/1 The Welsh Journal of Education 37 at 37Google Scholar.

60 Ibid.

61 Field, E “Educational debt burden and career choice: Evidence from a financial aid experiment at NYU Law School” (2009) 1/1 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 1 at 4Google Scholar.

62 Loan bursary agreement, clause 3(i).

63 Bhana, D et al. Student's Guide to the Law of Contract (3rd ed, 2013, Juta Legal & Academic Publishers) at 305Google Scholar.

64 Iyer, SR Everybody's Book of Law (2nd ed, 1961, Asia Publishing house) at 195Google Scholar.

65 Mora interest is interest accrued on an overdue amount. As stated in Land Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa v Ryton Estates (Pty) Ltd and Others [2013] 4 All SA 385 (SCA) para 13, mora interest is a form of damages for breach of contract. The party that suffered the breach should be placed in the position that he / she should have been had the contract been performed.

66 Bhana et al Student's Guide, above at note 63 at 353.

67 Ibid.

68 TJ Zywicki “The law and economics of consumer debt collection and its regulation” (Mercatus Centre working paper, September 2015) at 2.

69 Id at 3.

70 Burnham, SJ “What attorneys should know about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or, the 2 dos and the 200 don'ts of debt collection” (1998) 59/2 Montana Law Review 179 at 180Google Scholar.

71 Id at 179.

72 Jalonen, J and Takala, T “Debtors’ ethical perceptions of the debt collection process” (2018) 23/1 Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies 14 at 16Google Scholar.

73 Id at 18.

74 N Koeshe “NMDS introduces online registration” (29 March 2018) Lesotho Times, available at: <http://lestimes.com/nmds-introduces-online-registration/> (last accessed 4 November 2020). A debt collection agency called Jamali Holdings was engaged on a five-year contract to collect overdue debts, which ran into millions of Maluti as a result of defaults in higher education financing repayments. This contract was open to review after three years, at which point satisfactory performance would confirm the continuation of the contract, whereas unsatisfactory performance would result in the termination of the debt collector's services. The determining factor regarding performance was the amount collected on a monthly basis. However, upon review in 2015, it was concluded that the collector failed to meet this term of the contract but no reasons were advanced for the unsatisfactory performance. As a result, the contract was terminated for non-performance. Since 2015, no collection agency has been engaged.

75 Jackson, R “The National Student Financial Aid Scheme of South Africa (NSFAS): How and why it works” (2002) 11/1 The Welsh Journal of Education 82 at 82 and 93Google Scholar.

76 Nyahende, VR “The success of students’ loans in financing higher education in Tanzania” (2013) 3/3 Higher Education Studies 47 at 51CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

77 Johnstone, DB Financing Higher Education: Cost-Sharing in International Perspective (2006, Sense Publishers) at 7Google Scholar.

78 Omari, IM Higher Education at Crossroads in Africa (1991, IM Omari) at 46 and 47Google Scholar.

79 Ibid.

80 “BRD has made great progress in better student loan management” (17 April 2017) Hope Magazine, available at: <http://hope-mag.com/index.php?com=news&option=read&ca=6&a=2969> (last accessed 4 November 2020). In compliance with Law No 44/2015 of 14 September 2015, the Ministry of Education and the Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) governing student loans and bursaries formed an alliance in an effort to facilitate better and more efficient recovery of loans, having experienced a higher rate of defaults and a low recovery rate. The law imposed a duty on employers whose staff benefited from the student loans scheme to inform the BRD in writing about those beneficiaries.

81 Johnstone, DB “The economics and politics of cost sharing in higher education: Comparative perspectives” (2004) 23 Economics of Education Review 403 at 405CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

82 BC Sanyal and M Martin “Financing higher education: International perspectives” 2006 Higher Education in the World 2 at 9.

83 Walker, M and Mkhwanazi, F “Challenges in accessing higher education: A case study of marginalised young people in one South African informal settlement” (2015) 40 International Journal of Educational Development 40 at 47Google Scholar; Johnstone, DB “The applicability of income contingent loans in developing and transitional countries” (2004) 18/2 Journal of Educational Planning and Administration 159 at 160Google Scholar.

84 Financing Higher Education in Africa (2010, World Bank) at 56–57.

85 Means-tested means “a form of subsidy targeting, [which] attempts to distribute at least some higher education subsidies on the basis of need or estimated ability to pay”: Tekleselassie, AA and Johnstone, DB “Means-testing: The dilemma of targeting subsidies in African higher education” (2004) 2/2 Journal of Higher Education in Africa 135 at 135Google Scholar.

86 L Lochner and A Monge-Naranjo “Credit constraints in education” (working paper 2011-036, October 2011) at 29–30; Johnstone Financing Higher Education, above at note 77; R Shireman “Learn now, pay later: A history of income contingent student loans in the United States” (2017) The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 184 at 195.