Chancellor urges the state to seek extra funding for cash-crunched HELB

The State has been urged to be more innovative and to think outside the box in funding students in universities and other institutions of higher education in the country.

Dr. Vincent Gaitho, Pro-chancellor at Mount Kenya University (MKU) says the government now has several sources of funding which are opportunities to boost cash inflows to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) for later access by desperate students. 

“The first one is the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority which is holding about Sh45 billion lying idle. Some of these funds can be used to boost HELB but to be repaid later,” he said.

Dr. Vincent Gaitho, who also chairs the KEPSA Education Sector Board, was speaking in a panel discussion on the government’s new university funding model hosted by a local TV station at Machakos University. 

The model has been criticised by students and their parents as discriminatory, inefficient and being wrought with system delays.

The Pro Chancellor said multinational and other local corporates making and declaring super normal profits should also be encouraged to donate funds ( as a form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to boost HELB’s revolving funding to higher education students.

“Recently, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) handed over corruptly acquired assets worth more than Sh. 5 billion to President William Ruto. These assets can be given to HELB to fund students in institutions of higher learning,” Dr. Gaitho said.

According to Dr. Gaitho, government allocation per students sponsored by the state in private universities dropped from Sh.70, 000 when the programme started in 2016 to about Sh. 40,000 when the project ended. This forced the private institutions to help the students scramble for bursaries, scholarships and other funds to close the gap.

Today, private universities are not getting money directly from the government but are admitting a lot students receiving loans from HELB.

The Head of Lending at HELB, King’ori Ndegwa, admitted during the interview that there are delays in disbursing money to universities, colleges and student accounts because of competing demands at Treasury. 

“This might force reporting students to conduct fund raisers (harambees) in the meantime so as to meet personal needs and requirements by the institutions,” he added.