Lecturers Call for Need-Based HELB Loan Allocations
The Vice President of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU), Cyprian Ombati, has called for fairness in the allocation of funds by the Higher Education Loans Board.
Ombati believes that there is a disparity in the distribution of loans and bursaries, which is resulting in students who don’t need the money receiving it over those who do.
He would like to see a clearer mechanism put in place to ensure that the students who are in dire need receive the funds they require.
Ombati also spoke about the merging of the HELB, TVET Fund, and the University Fund into the National Skills and Funding Council (NSFC).
He welcomes the merging of these funds if it will solve the problems that have plagued the previous systems in student loan disbursement.
He believes that this new body will be able to better oversee the funding of universities and ensure that the money is distributed fairly and effectively.
However, the UASU Vice President is against the plan to privatize public universities to raise revenue. He believes that this move is ill-advised and will only make education inaccessible to the majority of Kenyans who are already struggling to access higher education.
As UASU, they will not stand by and watch as public universities are privatized, as this will have a devastating impact on the education system.
The government has stated that in order to raise its own revenue, it may be necessary to privatize public universities. However, Ombati believes that this is not the solution to the problems faced by the education system in Kenya.
“As UASU, we will not stand there and watch as public universities are privatised,” Ombati said.
He believes that a more fair and equitable distribution of funds will be a better solution, rather than taking education away from the majority of students who are already struggling to access it.
Lecturers Call for Need-Based HELB Loan Allocations
