HELB Applicants Reduced As Pre-Primary Teacher Enrollment Increased – KNBS Economic Survey

HELB Applicants Reduced As Pre-Primary Teacher Enrollment Increased – KNBS Economic SurveyIn the 2020-2021 academic year, the number of needy students who required government funding for their university education fell by 3.2%.According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ (KNBS) Economic Survey 2022, the number of HELB loan applicants fell to 376,100 in 2020/21, and the amount awarded to beneficiaries fell by 6.6% to Sh 14.2 billion in the 2020/21 academic year.According to the report, a total of Sh.14,444 million in loans and bursaries were awarded in 2020/21, with bursaries accounting for Sh.237 million.This comes as Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) CEO Charles Ringera expressed concern in a recent interview about the board’s funding challenges.“This, coupled with inadequate funding from the exchequer (National Treasury) has inadvertently created a funding challenge for students seeking HELB loans,” he added.Meanwhile, teacher employment in public primary schools is expected to rise by 1.2% to 220,744 by 2021.According to the KNBS report, the number of teachers in public secondary schools and colleges increased by 6.3% to 120,279 in 2021.Furthermore, pre-primary teacher enrollment increased by 0.4% to 2,845,300 in 2021.It also revealed that enrollment in primary schools increased by 1.1% to 10,285,100 in 2021, while enrollment in secondary schools increased by 4.9% to 3.7 million in 2021.ALSO READ:Meanwhile, enrollment in TVET institutions increased by 0.4% to 498,300 in 2021, while enrollment in universities increased by 2.8% to 562,100 in 2021/22.According to the survey, funding for public universities increased by 4.6% to Sh43.8 billion in 2021/22.HELB Applicants Reduced As Pre-Primary Teacher Enrollment Increased – KNBS Economic Survey

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