A third attempt seeking to amend the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) Act of 1995 has been tabled in Parliament that would see interest on loans waived for graduates and people living with Disabilities until they secure their first employment.
Similar moves had failed two times in a raw during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime as MPs argued that the move would affect the sustainability of the loans body because it is a revolving fund. Nonetheless, Machakos Woman Representative Joyce Kamene is optimistic that the move will pass in this Kenya Kwanza’s regime.
The Kenya Kwanza regime had promised in its Education Charter to “restructure HELB to offer interest –free loans”
The parliamentary Bill also seeks to lower the interest charged on students loans from four to three per cent.
At the same time, she proposed that the penalty charged for defaulting on the loan be effective after securing employment five years after graduation.
According to the data from HELB, the total amount owed by the former students is over Ksh60 billion. A thing which saw the agency Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera announce that a whopping 140, 000 students are set to miss out on the government funding since there is no cash.
By Vostine Ratemo
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