UoN Students Announce Protest Over Delayed HELB

A section of University students are decrying hardships in the university after the government delayed disbursing the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) funds.

The students who usually rely on the funds to sustain their stay have given the government a seven-day ultimatum to either release the funds or they will protest from Friday.

The students drawn from the University of Nairobi have revealed that they are struggling to return to school while those already enrolled are finding it difficult to sustain themselves.

“We want to issue a strong ultimatum to the government, it is their mandate to offer us HELB, by Friday, if there will be no HELB disbursement, we will occupy those offices and compel those leaders to give us the funds,” Rocha Madzayo, the President of UoN student body, said.

The confusion and delay in the disbursement came in the wake of the ruling by the court which declared the new university funding model unconstitutional.

Ideally, before the start of each academic year, students should be getting a specific amount from HELB, which covers part of their school fees and sustainability funds.

However, for years, students have always complained of a delay in the time in which the cash is released.

The delay in the disbursement is often attributed to a combination of budgetary constraints, growing demand for financial assistance, and poor loan recovery from previous beneficiaries.

Established in 1995, the HELB was set up as a mechanism to provide affordable loans to students in public and private universities, as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.

HELB loans serve a vital function in addressing the high cost of tertiary education in Kenya, as many students rely on these funds to continue their studies.

HELB disburses loans in tranches, and students typically receive them at the beginning of academic terms. The amount varies depending on the course of study, level of education, and the student’s financial needs, but it usually ranges between Ksh35,000 and Ksh60,000 annually.

HELB however faced a major challenge when the Kenya Kwanza government introduced a new funding model to face it. The model however received a lot of controversies with stakeholders and students rejecting it leading to the High Court ruling it unconstitutional.