• USAID financed the study loans under Afya Elimu Fund for five years from 2016.
• In the five years the fund has provided loans to 17,500 students.
Image: /CALISTUS LUCHETU
Thousands of students at the Kenya Medical Training College will not get study loans after USAID, a key financier, pulled out.
The Higher Education Loans Board said some 3,500 students previously catered for by the fund annually will lose out on the study loans.
USAID financed the study loans under a project titled Afya Elimu Fund for five years from 2016.
Distribution of the loans is done by Helb.
However, USAID says they are restructuring their engagement model to prioritise trade partnership rather than aid.
"Under the new funding opportunities, they are changing their model to focus more on trade agreements. So the programme has now come to an end," Helb CEO Charles Ringera told the Star on phone.
Ringera revealed that this year Helb has received loan requests from 12,000 KMTC students but with limited resources only 3,000 of them will get.
In the five years, USAID pumped Sh700 million to funding loans for students training in middle-level health courses.
These include nurses, laboratory technologists and clinical officers who form the bulk of the country's health workforce.
Ringera said in the five years the fund has provided loans to 17,500 students.
“Already, among those, 10,000 have completed their studies and are repaying their loans,” he said.
Under the project, the medical students received an average loan of Sh40,000 to finance their fee payment and stay in campus.
KMTC students taking certifica courses are required to part with Sh80,700 annually for the two-and-half year course.
Those pursuing diploma on the other hand pay Sh120,700 for their courses.
The only variation between the diploma and certificate courses is in the amount of tuition fee, which is Sh70,000 for diploma students and Sh30,000 for certificate students.
Other costs incurred by the students include charges for meals and accommodation, payable directly to the respective college.
The students are also required to buy special medical equipment for each course such as Stethoscopes.
All stationery are also the responsibility of the student.
Ringera told the Star that the Education ministry is in consultation with their health counterparts to secure stable funding for medical students.
The idea on the table is to revive an age old proposal, which gave life to Kenya Association of Health Fund but remains dormant.
Ringera said that the fund currently has Sh2.5 billion with the ability to bridge the funding gap left by USAID.
Due to neglect, the fund has been locked under the assets recovery.
“The Health ministry needs to step up and recover the fund, appoint a board of trustees to run the fund,”Ringera said.
Edited by Henry Makori