Ksh 30B released to cover secondary school capitaltion, HELB, university scolarships
Photo by Farah Yusuf
The Government has released Ksh 30.5 billion to cover secondary school education capitation, and loans and scholarships for students in universities.
Of the total amount, Ksh 7 billion will cater for capitation for public schools at the Junior Secondary School level while Ksh 16 billion will cover capitation grants under the free day secondary school education programme.
The funds are to be received in schools before they close for the April Holidays next week.
At the higher education level, the Government has released Ksh 6.794 billion for loans towards the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) while Ksh 3.98 billion will be disbursed for scholarships through the Universities Fund (UF).
This brings to Ksh 32 billion and Ksh 12 billion the total amount released by the Government for loans and scholarships respectively this financial year.
In January this year, the Government released Ksh 14.4 billion to cover scholarships and loans for Government-sponsored first-year students in universities under the
New Higher Education Funding Model. The loans also covered loans for semester two of the 2023/2024 Academic Year for continuing students.
In October last year, the Government disbursed Ksh5.3 Billion for student loans and a further Ksh 3.9 billion for scholarships for first years under the New Funding Model and Ksh10.3 billion was released to Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) in September 2023 to cater for continuing students loans in Universities and TVET colleges.
Under the New Higher Education Funding model, the Universities Fund will disburse funds directly to individual universities for the successful candidates to cover their tuition fees.
On its part HELB will disburse tuition loans directly to respective universities/colleges and upkeep loan to the respective student bank accounts or mobile phone numbers. Universities will receive the scholarship portions for their respective students.
The categorization of students was realised through a reliable scientific method, Means Testing Instrument (MTI), used to determine the student’s level of financial need, to ensure they are supported adequately.
The New Higher Education Funding Model applies to the students who sat for KCSE from the year 2022 going forward.
Candidates who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination in 2023 will form the second cohort of students to be funded under the new funding model once they join universities and Colleges later this year.
The Ministry of Education wishes to express the Government’s unwavering commitment to promoting access to university education and providing financial support to students, to ensure no one is left behind.
