AFRICA ( commonwealth Union ) _ Since the Higher Education Loans Board is out of money, parents and guardians must look for other ways to cover their children’s tuition costs. After it was discovered that HELB does not have the cash to loan around 140,000 students, a serious problem is looming in the funding of students to institutions of higher learning.
The Higher Education Loans Board is reportedly out of money, causing parents and guardians to look for other ways to cover their children’s tuition costs. Additionally, the parents have been obliged to pay for their children’s living expenses and TVET (technical, vocational, and equivalent) college tuition.
Students would have to wait longer till the Treasury releases Sh5.7 billion for their subsequent payout, Helb said MPs on Wednesday. For thousands of students from low-income households who need financial assistance to pursue higher education, HELB loans are a lifeline.
The organization also disclosed that it did not provide funding for 75,000 students during the previous fiscal year as a result of the National Treasury delaying the release of Sh3 billion.The majority of the first-year students, according to Ringera, will need to find alternative ways to pay for their tuition, housing, and maintenance.
A request for additional funding through the recently authorised supplementary budget was refused by MPs, which is yet another sign of doom. HELB received Sh14.8 billion this fiscal year to finance students based on their economic circumstances. Between Sh35,000 and Sh60,000 is awarded annually to successful students whose loan requests are granted.
The university will then get Sh8,000 as tuition. The remaining amount is subsequently paid to the students over the course of two semesters in two equal instalments. Ringera reported that Helb typically receives about Sh400 million from past loan recipients to the Public Investments Committee on Education and Governance (PICEG) of the National Assembly. Around August of every year, the first Treasury disbursement is typically anticipated. This is over a month before the start of the fall semester in colleges and universities.
Ringera stated that the agency only collected roughly Sh4 billion in September of last year, while the Treasury released Sh5.6 billion.When we combined the two, Ringera stated that they were able to pay the entire bill for September and October. The Treasury only released Sh2.5 billion in December as a result of student protests.
