WHY HELB FINDS IT HARD TO FUND STUDENTS ON TIME

By Maritim Evans

Perhaps students demanding for Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) funds would have waited a little longer to give time the board to realign its budget as it prepares to fund more students this year.

Enrolment in universities has been increasing over the past three years and the board has been under pressure to fund the increasing number of students who are admitted to public universities.

Despite that, loan defaulters have not been able to pay the loan in time prompting the board to seek alternative source of money to fund other students who are studying in various universities across the country.

It is not business as usual this year in the board since it used a lot of money from donors including the World Bank last year. The board had stayed for few months before it funded first applicants last year. Some of the students who applied for the funds then had to wait until almost mid this year in order to get the loan from the board.

University students preparing to demonstrate. PHOTO/COURTESY 

Statistics available on the Helb website show that more than 110,000 students applied for the loans at the end of last year, up from the 2013 figure of 65,000, while government capitation has been rising relatively slowly.

Out of the 110,000 first-time applicants, only around half, 65,000, qualified for loans, but not all would get the money.

In the last financial year that ended in July Helb had sought US$170 million from the government as capitation, but received only US$28.3 million, a decrease of 15% of the request.

Further statistics show that the loans agency has targeted raising the student financing budget four-fold from the current US$63.5 million to US$224.7 million in 2018.

Only 10 in 100 loan defaulters have been able to pay back the money to the board. This makes it hard for the board to finance the incoming students thus making it look for another source of money.

University education in Kenya, a 2009 World Bank report showed, is among the most expensive in the region. With over 50% of Kenyan households considered poor, most parents and guardians require supplementary funding to keep their children in class.

In conclusion, the government should allocate more funds to the board so that it can fund ever-increasing number of students joining universities every year in time.