Students at Nyandarua National Polytechnic took to the streets on Monday to protest a fee hike and Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) applications cancellation at the institution.
Led by the institution's student president John Eric, the students paralysed transport along the Nyahururu-Olkalou Highway.
Eric told the media that the administration had hiked the school fees and introduced unnecessary charges that inconvenienced a lot of students.
“Some riots are witnessed today because of some issues concerning fees and regarding this, we are concerned about the HELB applications that were just cancelled over the weekend.” He stated.
Expounding on the HELB issue, the students lamented that even though the HELB payments had reflected in their portals, the money had yet to be disbursed.
This, he said, inconvenienced very many students who highly relied on the loan not just for their school fees but also for their survival in the university.
He further requested the government to give them a way forward on the matter and respond to their appeal on HELB that they had previously filed.
Other issues the students raised were examination charges, issues with the school portals, and learning resources for their campus in Bridge Hill.
Addressing the PS directly, one of the protestors said, “All the HELB applications filed by the students have been cancelled. We have a lot of students that have been enrolled. We filed a petition about the HELB but we are yet to receive a response.”
The Polytechnic joins a long list of higher learning institutions that have come out to demonstrate funding issues in their school.
Just a few days ago, Rongo University Students also took to the streets to demonstrate a fee hike and the new University Funding Model. The repercussions for those protests were third-year students being sent home for disturbing the peace of the other students.
The new university funding model has received a lot of uproar mostly because of the controversial way the funds are to be disbursed.
Instead of higher education institutions receiving a block capitation of the funds as in HELB, the new model will disburse student loans through scholarships and household contributions.
Despite the president forming a committee to review the model, protests continue to ravage the country with an impending one by the University of Nairobi students after they issued a 14-day strike notice on Wednesday, September 18.
