NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 6 – A claim by the House Majority Leader that the government intends to scrap the Higher Education Loans Board, a State-funded facility which finances students in tertiary institutions, is misleading.
Opiyo Wandayi made the claim while reacting to an announcement on the planned merger of education-related loan products to create a National Skill and Funding Council (NSFC).
“As you disband HELB, what happens to the poor university students who are due to report for their new semester this month? Do they also defer their studies for six months, which is historic?” Wandayi tweeted while alluding to the alleged plan to abolish HELB.
An assessment of President William Ruto’s statement on the intended policy however revealed Wandayi’s statement to be misleading and exaggerated.
Contrary to Wandayi’s assertion, President Ruto said the government will scale up funding to the amalgamated facility with an initial allocation of Sh22 billion which he noted would equate to the doubling of resources available to HELB’s successor.
“Instead of different funding systems, the government will establish the National Skill and Funding Council that will amalgamate the existing funding bodies,” President Ruto announced on January 1, 2023, when he hosted celebrations at State House Mombasa to usher in the new year.
The merger of HELB alongside Universities Fund Board (UFB) and TVET Fund was part of promises made by Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance under the UDA party manifesto.
This Fact Check also found Wandayi’s claim that the move to “disband HELB” would disenfranchise students reporting for a new semester in January 2023 and possibly compel them to defer their studies for “six months” to be untrue.
In multiple responses to questions by concerned loanees, HELB indicated that the planned disbursement of funds for the said semester was in fact in progress and that the Board would notify awardees once the process is complete.
HELB also indicated on January 4, 2023 that students will be able to access funds through mobile wallets upon online registration, for first time awardees, saying the self-activation process was up and running.
