HELB Sued Over New Scholarship Requirement
Two attorneys in Nairobi have taken the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to court in response to a recently implemented restriction that affects applicants for scholarships to pursue master’s degrees and doctorates.
In order to challenge Helb’s requirement that applicants for a partial scholarship in the 2023–24 academic year must have attained a minimum of a second class, upper division, in their previous studies, Mr. Moses Mabeya and Mr. Vincent Yegon have brought a case before the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court.
Helb mentioned, among other things, a letter of admission to a local university recognised by the Commission on University Education and a minimum grade point average of at least a second-class, upper division grade point average in an advertising that was published on August 1 and solicited applications for a scholarship.
The two legal practitioners hurriedly submitted their complaint on the same day that the advertisement was made public.
They claim that the advertisement lacks transparency and accountability, and that the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has created an unconstitutional minimum eligibility condition for students who are currently enrolled in or intend to enrol in master’s or doctoral degree programmes.
The minimal entrance criterion does not comply with the eligibility criteria that are established in Section 2 of the Higher Education Loans Board Act.
The lawyers referred to the Helb Act when they noted that an applicant needs to be a citizen of Kenya who has satisfied the minimum admission standards and has been accepted to a university for a programme that will run for more than one year.
They argued that the directive was unlawful and unconstitutional since there had been no public consultation in which the opinions of all parties affected were sought.
As a result of this judgement, “students from students from modest backgrounds who earned a second-class, lower-division, or lower grade are unable to obtain a student loan to further their education.”
Students who graduate from an undergraduate programme at a university are given one of four grades: first class honours, second class honours, upper division, second class honours, lower division, and finally, pass. In accordance with the request, Justice Lawrence Mugambi did not certify the matter as being of an urgent nature. The issue is going to be talked about on October 3rd.
HELB Sued Over New Scholarship Requirement
