Students protest plans to reduce Helb budget by Sh3.7bn

University and college students have protested plans to reduce the Higher Education Loans Board by Sh3.7 billion arguing that the move will lock out thousands of needy students from accessing higher education.

The National Treasury has proposed a reduction of Sh3.7 billion in the budget allocated to Helb in the 2024/2025 financial year.

The proposal has been submitted to MPs awaiting their approval.

The amount is a 10 per cent decrease from the previous allocation. The Treasury wants to allocate Sh33.3 billion to Helb.

Under the new model, students would receive a revised range of Sh37,000 to Sh47,000 as opposed to the previous range of Sh35,000 to Sh60,000.

Student leaders from various universities across the country told journalists that the new university funding model will lock out thousands of underprivileged students from accessing higher education.

Led by Naomi Chebet, the Kenya Methodist University president, the students said parents are straining to facilitate their children's university or college education owing to the harsh economic times.

Chebet said the number of needy students who solely rely on Helb for their higher education has significantly increased over the past few years, adding that reducing the fund will be tantamount to killing dreams and careers of thousands of young Kenyans.

“The number of students have increased by about 200,000 for the last five years and therefore if anything is to be done to Helb, is increasing the money,” she said.

Chebet added; “The new education funding model has become expensive and there are many students who come from humble backgrounds who rely on Helb to continue with their studies.”

Her sentiments were echoed by her Kenyatta University counterpart Ochieng Ododa who termed the proposal as ill-timed noting that it is against the government's agenda in easing access to higher learning for all Kenyans.

Ochieng said Helb plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the rich and the poor by ensuring that even those at the bottom of the pyramid get access to higher education.

He said thousands of Kenyan students cannot afford university education.

Evans Muchanga of Chuka University said reducing Helb will see most students, who have been beneficiaries of the loans, fail to complete their studies.

“Helb is the salary of our comrades, without it we cannot survive,” he said.

The students asked the National Treasury to shelve the proposals and urged the MPs not to approve it. They instead called for an increment of the Helb budget allocation to benefit more deserving students across the country.

“We are calling on the legislators and other stakeholders including the Ministry of Education to reject the proposal because if it is approved, higher education in Kenya will only be a reserve of the rich, the poor will never further their studies,” Chebet said.

Meanwhile, the students waded into the medical interns tiff between the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and the State saying the interns are usually not students but graduates of their profession.

Chebet, a medical science student, said the government should license all medical students upon graduation, if it cannot rightly remunerate them as interns. They rooted for proper payment of all medical interns.

“Internship is just a mandatory working to ensure you get your license. Therefore, if the government does not have enough money to post interns, they can just give them licenses upon graduation,” she said.