Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi has weighed in on President William Ruto's plan to scrap the Higher Education Loans Board.
Wandayi questioned what would become of the university students from financially poor backgrounds as they are expected to report back to school for a new semester.
"As you disband HELB, what happens to the poor university students who are due to report for their new semester this month?" he asked.
"Do they also defer their studies for six months, which is historic?"
Speaking in Mombasa on January 1, President William Ruto said there will be changes in the high education sector, including the formation of the National Skill and Funding Council.
"The government will establish the NSFC that amalgamates Helb, TVET, and University Funding Board," he said.
This, the President said, will bridge the current higher education funding gap of up to 45 per cent.
Ruto said this plan will double the current Helb funding from Sh11 billion to Sh22 billion and even eliminate Helb loan interests.
"We know many universities are facing numerous challenges and significant debts as a result of the programme’s length," he said.
Helb was established in 1995 and has since been funding Kenyan university students in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
In November 2022, university stakeholders opposed the proposal to merge Helb and UFB.
University of Nairobi Student Association chairperson Melvin Thogo said the plan will not be a solution to the funding crisis in universities.
"While this may look attractive at face value, this is the easiest way to disenfranchise students of this fund," Thogo said.
UASU secretary at the UoN chapter Maloba Wekesa said merging the mandate of Helb and UFB will be a huge mistake.
Maloba said the two bodies should be left to operate independently within their mandate.
"It would be ill-advised if the Higher Educations Loans Board, which is burdened with the logistics of student loans, were to be merged with the University Fund," Wekesa said.
