HELB

The Higher Educaion Loans Board (HELB) will now be expected to produce proof as to why they think a student whose loan application was rejected can do without it.

This is after the National Assembly approved amendments to the law on Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

It is also now mandatotry for the board to give loans to all government sponsored students in public universities.

In the case where the board rejects a students application for the loan, it is required to give in detail the reasons behind the rejection.

The reasons, in documentary form, will be proof that the student can go to school and study comfortably, without relying on the loan.

Government sponsored students, reffered to as regular students, especially those from poor families will be given priority when disbursing the loans.

Kiharu Mp Irungu Kang’ata, said that the ammendments would protect students who performed well but are unable to sustain their stay in school because of their poor background.

Supporting the amendments, nominated MP Amina Abdalla said that most students from poor families miss out on the loans they desperately need, yet no reasons are usually given for the rejection.

The new amendments come as a relief to most students especially those joining campus this year, after HELB earlier expressed fears that some students would likely miss out on the loans.

Read:  Why Half Of Students Joining Public Campuses in September Will Not Receive HELB Loans

HELB argued that it lacked sufficient funds to give loans to all the students joining university.

Read Also: Kenyans Angered By HELB, This Time Over Clearance Certificates

The Higher Education Loans Board has come under sharp criticism from Kenyans for their issuance of clearance certificates.

Today morning saw HELB trend on social media as Kenyans, mostly on twitter,questioned the legality of having to pay the board in order to be issued with a clearance certificate.

Many argued that it is unfair for Kenyans to pay the a fee of Sh1,000 in order to get a certificate showing you have no pending loan debt with the board.

Former students who never applied for the loan in colleges and universities termed the payment as extortion.

In the past, only government jobs required applicants to produce among other things, clearance certficates from HELB which now some employers in the private sector have embraced the same. 

To be issued with one, you are required to pay Sh1,000, whether you were a beneficiary of the loan or not.

HELB has however defended the fee.

Through their twitter handle the loans board said that the fee is an organizational policy meant to cater for operational cost for services.

Half of the 67,124 students who are expected to join public universities from next month will not receive any loans from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

HELB says it is short of Sh 2 billion meant to give the students as loans.

In the fiscal year that started in July HELB was allocated Sh7.5 billion by Treasury.

The agency later made a request for an additional Sh2 billion but was denied.

This comes even as it was revealed that the board is yet to recover Sh21.9 billion from past beneficiaries.

This in turn has thrown the agency into a funding crisis, putting it in a tough position in trying to support fresh students joining the universities from September.

Auditor General Edward Ouko has now raised concerns over the debt owed to the loans board.

In his report for the fiscal year ended June, Ouko said that despite the growth in the recovery of loans, the amount so far recovered is still inadequate, Business Daily reports.

Despite this, HELB remains optimistic, instead downplaying Ouko's concerns.

Helb’s Chief Executive Charles Ringera on Friday said the board had surpassed its 2014/15 target by collecting Sh3.36 billion instead of the expected Sh3.1 billion.

He added that the agency was tightening recovery measures to reduce the rate of default.

See HELB Hires Agents Abroad To Collect Loans

Allocation of loans by the agency has always been a point of contention with students.

Several universities have in the past taken to the streets to protest the agency's failure to disburse the loans with some complaining that the board sometimes took too long to get the loans to the students.

See Maasai Mara University Students Paralyze Transport in Demos Over School Holiday