Thu | Oct 9, 2025

Teacher stumped after SLB loan deductions continued after full repayment

Published:Monday | February 17, 2025 | 9:40 AMErica Virtue - Senior Gleaner Writer

In November 2024, the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) informed Doreen* that the $500,000 loan secured for her child to study at The University of the West Indies for the 2019-2020 academic year had been fully repaid.

The SLB congratulated her for honouring her obligations, ensuring that other eligible students could benefit from the programme.

The November 13, 2024 letter, which was seen by The Gleaner and was signed on behalf of Loan Servicing Department Manager Cheryl Surjue, did not state the date when the loan was discharged, but Doreen said a representative at the Bureau had informed her that it was discharged in December 2023.

Despite this, her salary continued to be deducted by $10,000 per month throughout 2024. She retained pay slips showing these deductions, with the final one occurring in December 2024.

On November 11, 2024, the SLB sent her a customer refund form, inviting her to apply for a refund. The form required her personal and banking details.

When Doreen, who is a teacher, visited the SLB’s office, she was told that it did not receive any of the payments deducted from her salary in 2024. She was also told that the December 2023 payment was missing.

“Up to December 2024, MOE (Ministry of Education) made deductions," the befuddled woman told The Gleaner.

Doreen said that when she followed up at the education ministry's regional office in Mandeville, Manchester, she was told that all payments had been sent to the SLB.

“Even in December 2024, when they took out that payment, I called SLB, and she told me that they did not get any payment there, and [the person on the line said]she didn’t know if it was a bit early for the money to come over,” Doreen recalled.

According to her, it was out of curiosity that she initially checked on the status of the loan.

“I did not know when it was supposed to end. So when I went to Kingston and they told me that the loan was finished from December 2023, I told them that money was still coming from my salary,” she said.

In response to The Gleaner’s questions, the Ministry of Education clarified that it follows instructions from lending institutions such as the SLB, which provide information regarding the start and end dates for loan repayments.

“We have no evidence of any funds being held for an extended period, including in this case. After reviewing the details, we confirmed that the last deduction made in December was promptly forwarded to SLB.

"It must be noted that concerning the case in question, we received the notification from SLB after the payroll was processed (in December) and sent off for further processing according to the government payment standards,” the ministry said.

It also said that if there is a delay in receiving the advisory from the lending institution, deductions may continue until the matter is resolved.

The ministry said that from time to time, there are queries and concerns about deductions.

“The concerns are similar, and the late receipt of revocation notice is a key area resulting in such queries. Institutions sometimes hold funds in an account akin to a suspense account until the matter is resolved,” it said.

It pledged to "continue to improve responsiveness to queries received from its teachers to have same resolved at the earliest opportunity”.

Last week, the SLB confirmed to The Gleaner that Doreen was the principal borrower and that loan repayment began in February 2020. It said late fees were charged due to the delay in receiving payments from the ministry . The SLB stated that the loan was fully repaid in August 2024, not December 2023, as Roman had been told by an SLB representative. The SLB further explained that after Roman visited the office in November 2024 to inquire about the status of her account, it was discovered that a payment for December 2023 was missing. At that time, the SLB had received payments up to September 2024, with one payment still outstanding. They then reversed the late fees and other charges for the missing payment, officially closing the loan account.

Last week, the SLB acknowledged that the teacher was the principal borrower and repayment for the loan began in February 2020. It said late fees charge was levied against the account, because of the time it was received from MOE.

It also said that the loan repayment was completed in August 2024 – not December 2023, as Doreen said she had been informed by a SLB representative.

It also acknowledged that when Doreen sought to verify the status of the account in November, the loan officer reviewed the payments and discovered that the one for December 2023 was missing.

“After completing the necessary steps, and making adjustments to the account (reversing late fees and other charges for the missing payment in December 2023), the loan was deemed settled and the account was subsequently closed," the state agency said, saying the closure was in August 2024.

But the deductions by MOE continued up to four months later.

She did not receive a refund yesterday as promised.

*Name changed to protect identity.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com