The government has announced that students joining universities and vocational institutions (TVET) will begin accessing the portal for loan and scholarship applications on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
In a statement issued by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Ezekiel Machogu on Monday, the government announced that they will open the portal following Eid Al Adha's celebration.
According to the statement, the date for the opening of the portal had earlier been set to June 15 but had been postponed following the declaration of Monday as a public holiday.
“On June 7th, 2024, the Ministry of Education announced that the application portal for scholarships and loans to Universities and TVET institutions, under the Student-Centred Funding Model, for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) cohort would be opened on June 15th, 2024,” read the statement in part.
Additionally, the CS elaborated that the ministry had pushed the date forward to allow for Kenyans to prepare and celebrate.
“Consequently, in solidarity with our Muslim fraternity, the Ministry of Education decided to move the portal opening date from Saturday, June 15th, 2024 to Tuesday, June 18th, 2024 to allow Kenyans ample time to prepare and celebrate Eid Al-Adha,” stated Machogu.
However following the new directive, students will soon be able to access the portal allowing them to request government funding under the new university funding model.
Students will access the Higher Education Fund website www.hef.co.ke to apply for scholarships and loans.
Additionally, the ministry clarified that the portal would remain open for a substantial period to allow the applicants enough time.
However, it was not disclosed the duration that the portal would remain open.
The new funding model stipulates that university students will be allocated scholarships and funding calculated based on the cost of the programme of study.
Secondly, the funding model is also expected to prioritise a student’s financial need based on the background they hail from.
