The number of learners who applied and those allocated bursaries in public universities and TVETs decreased in 2023 according to a recent survey.
The Economic Survey 2024 conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revealed that the number of beneficiaries and the amount awarded by the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to students in these institutions in 2023/24 reduced by 20.2 per cent and 16.3 per cent to 30,465 and Ksh203.0 million for varsities and TVETs respectively.
The survey revealed that during the review period, only 2.6 per cent of the applicants in public universities were awarded bursaries. The number of bursary beneficiaries from public universities declined from 15,018 in 2022/23 to 14,333 in 2023/24.
The amount of bursary awarded to applicants from public universities dropped by 4.2 per cent from Ksh118 million in 2022/23 to Ksh113.1 million in 2023/24 Financial Year.
However, in the report which is produced once in a year revealed that the total applicants awarded bursaries from private universities grew by 1.3 per cent to 3,170 in 2023/24. The amount of bursary awarded to students in private universities rose by 2.0 per cent to Ksh25.0 million in 2023/24.
The number of TVET students awarded bursaries decreased by one third from 20,010 in 2022/23 to 12,962 in 2023/24.
Similarly, the amount of bursary awarded to TVETS declined from Ksh100.0 million in 2022/23 to Ksh64.9 million in 2023/24.
The amount of bursary awarded to female students in TVET institutions fell by 35.5 per cent to Ksh28.0 million while the amount awarded to male students fell by 34.8 per cent to Ksh36.9 million in 2023/24.
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