President William Ruto has proposed the extension of the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loan repayment grace period.
While discussing the new university funding model during a town hall meeting at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Ruto said HELB beneficiaries should not be rushed into repaying their loans until they are employed.
In the Sunday, August 25 session, the head of state disclosed that he paid his KSh 69,000 loan from his first salary after securing employment as a Member of Parliament.
"I agree that we must look into the subject of loan grace periods so that no student should be asked to pay until they have a job. You can't ask a person who is tarmacking to pay, you'll be asking for the impossible."I went to university in 1987 as a fresher and I had a loan just like you do. My loan was KSh 55,000 with an interest of 2%. The statistics are there with HELB. I paid my loan of KSh 69,000 with my first salary job as a Member of Parliament," said Ruto.In his discussions, Ruto praised the new university funding model, saying it would save the higher learning institutions from financial woes while at the same time helping very needy students.
Notably, the new funding model finances students based on several parameters determined by the Means Testing Instrument (MTI). MTI helps determine the level of the students’ needs.
The parameters are; parents’ background, gender, course type, previous school type, expenditure on education, family size and composition, marginalization, persons living with disability, chronic illness, and income.
Students who are extremely needy and vulnerable are placed in band one and will get scholarships at 70% and loans at 25%, while the household will contribute only 5% of the fees.
The said students receive KSh 60,000 in upkeep.
