HELB LOAN:

 UNREST AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OVER HELB LOAN
By Maritim Kipngetich

The escalation of students’ unrest over Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) loan over the past few months, has rekindled a heated debate among the students across various universities with each student having a different view of the matter.

Following the recent closure of Kimathi University where students took to streets and destroy properties claiming that they had not been given the funds by the board, the issue has generated different reactions among students with some questioning the board; is Helb loan given first to students from some universities and others from other universities wait for some time before they are given?

The students from Kimathi University were complaining that they had not been given the funds and yet students from other universities had got the money.

Gorge Mureithi is a fourth year engineering student at the University of Nairobi (UoN) and he says disbursement of funds by the board is mainly based on the universities.

“It is clear that when the board is giving out funds it must base on the universities. For example, the Helb headquarter, Anniversary Towers, is just opposite UoN main campus. If the board delays to give UoN students funds, then the students can go there and claim the money because they can easily access the building unlike other universities at the countryside,” Mureithi says.