Treasury has released Ksh 2.8 billion to the Higher Education Loans Board HELB for disbursement to University students.
This comes just a day after Embakasi East legislature Babu owino assured students that the funds will be released to them.
On Wednesday last week Moi University students carried out demonstrations in Eldoret for the second day demanding the release of delayed loans from the Higher Education Loans Board.
“We have today received the Financial year 2020/21 Quarter three Capitation of Ksh. 2.8 Billion from the National Treasury. The pending student loan payments are currently being addressed and will be concluded by Thursday 18th March 2021. #HELBLoan101” read a statement on HELBs’ twitter handle.
Defaulters
About 106, 443 former university students have defaulted on their Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic that triggered layoffs, business closure and freeze in hiring.
Helb data tabled shows loan accounts in default increased by 35, 561 in the six months to December with the defaulted loans increasing 55 per cent or Sh3.7 billion to Sh10.4 billion in the period when the virus ravaged corporate Kenya.
This highlights the struggle faced by beneficiaries who were making repayments on the strength of their payslips and cash flow from their businesses for those in self-employment.
Loan defaulters have weakened the Helb’s ability to support university and technical college students, prompting allocation cuts and requests for Sh8.6 billion additional funding from the Treasury.
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