The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has announced that it has eliminated the banding in loan allocation to boost efficiency in loan disbursement in line with the recent reforms announced by the government.
HELB CEO Geoffrey Monari said that the board is inclined its policies according to the government’s directive to make sure no student is locked out of classes due to lack of money.
Monari also said that the board now has enough fund to meet the capitation needs of all university and TVET students, countering fears of financial collapse.
This comes after the government disbursed Ksh.26.1 billion to university students, and Ksh.7.9 billion to TVET trainees in the 2024/2025 cycle.
“Currently, we don’t have any problem; as we go into the next semester, we will have gotten money through supplementary estimates to cater for any shortfall because now we know the number of students. We are on track,” Monari said.
The board CEO insists that no student who qualifies should be locked out of classes because their institution hasn’t received HELB funds.
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“We have discussed with vice chancellors that if there is money that we have not sent, and we usually have it on our portal, we have given assurance to universities that that money will be paid. Students should not be sent home or miss exams because HELB has not paid,” stated Monari.
However, Monari encouraged more people to repay their helb loans to enable them facilitate the current cohorts in universities and TVET institutions.
To strengthen sustainability, HELB is exploring issuing a social bond to securitise loan repayments, helping it cover current students’ funding needs. Monari disclosed that only about 67% of past loan recipients are faithfully repaying, while 33% default.
“People should come forward and start repaying their loans. Last year we received Ksh.5 billion, which we used to pay for our students—499,000 currently in university and 114,000 TVET students,” said Monari.
By Juma Ndigo
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