HELB introduces Technology to Identify 45,000 Poor Beneficiaries
On Tuesday, May 16, the government described the strategies it is looking into to find the 45,000 underprivileged students who are eligible for full university support.
Geoffrey Monari, the head of the University Fund (UF), and Beatrice Inyangala, the Principal Secretary of the State Department of Higher Education and Research, disclosed that the system will be entirely scientific while appearing on Citizen TV.
Monari added that the institution would employ an algorithm to decide who merited full funding from the government and who would receive half funding—this will be a first for Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
Since HELB will employ many databases for verification, it will be challenging for students to inflate their level of need.
“The information students provide will be cross-checked through Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), and The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to determine whether the students lied in their application about the level incomes of their parents,” said Monari.
He added that the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) and Identity Card numbers were connected, making it easy to determine the level of demand after looking at various databases.
Currently, he continued, “we are investigating how the student’s information can be connected to the population census, where different households provided their level of income.”
Single-parent Students funding
In response to the question of whether single-parent youngsters would receive preference, Monari said, “We will look at the schools the student attended. A top private school self-sponsorship will be a sign that the kid does not require the entire amount of funding.
Inyangala stated that whether or not the student received full financing would also depend on the parents’ finances.
The latter would be favored, she said, if someone made Ksh70,000 per month and had eight children as opposed to someone who made the same amount but had one student.
The PS also stated that the amount of funding will depend on the courses the kids choose.
“We will help students who are pursuing fields that are currently national priorities more. According to her, these courses support the bottom-up economic strategy.
On May 3, President William Ruto introduced a new university Financing scheme that puts students first.
“Block funding for universities and TVETS in the form of capitation based on differentiated unit costs will no longer be provided. Scholarships, loans, and household payments would all be combined to fund students on a graduated basis, the President said.
Only 45,000 of 173,000 university students will receive full government funding under the new arrangement.
Lastly, Depending on the amount of need, the remaining portions will get assistance in the form of loans or scholarships.
HELB introduces Technology to Identify 45,000 Poor Beneficiaries
