How Family Tax & NHIF Records Will Determine HELB Loan
According to Universities Fund Chief Executive Geoffrey Monari, the government would use information from other State entities to determine whether students are eligible for scholarships and loans.
Monari has emphasised that important elements including tax information, health insurance coverage, and retirement payments will be taken into account when deciding how much money will be given to each student and how they will be classified.
He underlined that in order to appropriately determine household incomes, the decision-making process will mainly rely on data from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
“For instance, paying Ksh1,700 for NHIF indicates that you are in a particular income bracket, or if we go to KRA and look at your returns, it indicates that you are in a particular income bracket,” said Monari.
Monari has stated that, although data will be essential in defining households’ income groups, thorough analysis of the information supplied in applications will be necessary to make a more educated choice.
The applications will include information regarding the students’ backgrounds and financial circumstances, among other things.
Also Read: Helb Applicants to Do Exams Before Submitting Applications
Concerns regarding the potential effects of the new funding approach have been voiced by certain academics. According to their argument, given the current economic climate, education may become pricey and out of reach for many families.
In addition, concerns have been expressed regarding how the government will evaluate applicants’ vulnerability, particularly in light of the fact that a sizable portion of Kenyans with jobs work in the unofficial sector.
Ephraim Njenga stated, “The new paradigm of paying higher education is a backdoor means to remove education subsidies precisely as I had expected.
“Now that they will be considered capable, they must pay the whole Ksh250,000 ($7,500) annual cost of their university education. Even with a strong wage, you will struggle if you have two university students. Only the extremely wealthy would escape the squeeze.
The government has come under fire from opponents of the new system for rapidly adopting the changes without obtaining sufficient public input and for experimenting without thinking through the implications.
“Every rational Kenyan should be against the experiments being conducted in the field of education. Whether you can afford the pranks or not is irrelevant, Njenga cautioned.
How Family Tax & NHIF Records Will Determine HELB Loan
