Higher Education Fund Gives Details Of Applications Submitted
Through the recently opened Higher Education Financing (HEF) portal, just 4000 students have applied for loans.
Charles Ringera, CEO of HELB, claimed in an interview with Citizen Tv on Wednesday that the government has put in place the necessary safeguards to guarantee that no student is excluded from the funding scheme.
Candidates for the KCSE who enrol in universities and TVETs after 2022 are eligible for the scholarships and loans.
More than 45,000 university students and 42,000 TVET students who are deemed vulnerable and in acute need will receive full support from government-sponsored scholarships and loans.
“We are organised and prepared to put in place the necessary safeguards for students who want to apply for and secure loans at Helb board,” declared Ringera.
Students have just one month to submit their scholarship and loan applications.
We are using a technique called artificial intelligence, therefore time is not an issue. Therefore, what is left over will be sufficient for us to process the student application forms. We want to reassure Kenyans that the government has made financial preparations, said Ringera.
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“The government will distribute the funds the first week that students will be expected to report to their respective institutions after we acquire all the details and get to know how much money will be allocated to each.”
Helb’s funding was raised from Sh15 billion in the budget for the previous fiscal year to Sh30 billion in the 2023–24 fiscal year.
In May, Ruto clarified that the new model would not result in higher university tuition costs and added that the government will enhance the funding given to educational institutions.
The new approach would divide the pupils into three groups, the vulnerable, the less vulnerable, and those who could receive funding, the president said.
Ezekiel Machogu, the Education Cabinet Secretary, stated during the portal’s opening that vulnerable students would not be required to cover any of the programme costs.
For the first time, students from low-income homes would have equitable access to higher education and TVET programmes, according to Machogu.
Higher Education Fund Gives Details Of Applications Submitted
