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HELB IN NEED OF HELP

HELB IN NEED OF HELP

Anniversary towers is well known to the higher education student population not because it stands 26 floors from the ground or because it is made of more glass than mortar and not even because it stands adjacent to a lane called university  but because it houses the headquarters of the higher education loans board. Lately students protested over delays in disbursement of the loan. As usual, the scenario was police and students engaging in running battles and with teargas and stones dominating the streets of Nairobi. Then everyone went his/her way.

 Such events just shed light on the challenges the loan schemes face in light of inadequate funds and the whole issue of cost sharing in education. Back in the day in the 80s, university students would dine in the cafeterias without having to pay in cash. Today the school cafeteria policy is PAYE (pay as you eat) and with many selling meals at normal high rates as opposed to the past when university messes would sell meals at subsidized rates. Demand for cash among students has increased.  No surprise that most students have resorted to preparing meals in the hostels.

At this time when the government is struggling to manage the little it has, a 1.1 billion shilling released to students is not a small amount. Mind you there are some students who have not received their second semester allocation. Such looming facts are just a shadow of what we expect in the future especially now when the number of beneficiaries is increasing. Colleges and technical institution learners have been added to what was reserved to university students only.

One might wonder why the government enslaves itself in sponsoring higher education despite other pressing issues like health and insecurity that are equally crucial. The reason is because of the education for development policy that is seen as the only way out from poverty for the third world countries. The belief is that increase in human capital (boosting of skills and knowledge through education) improves an individual’s productivity thus boosting a country’s economy. 

What should not be forgotten however is that the loan is repaid altogether. Thus the idea of student loan schemes was an intelligent strategy of cost sharing in education whereby the government enables learners complete their course and then they repay the money with some interest on top of it after graduation. That is in the eyes of the government. To the students, some have gotten money to complete fee balances, others have obtained capital for a business idea they had in mind and still for others it is cash to sponsor an upcoming bash in the weekend. Either way, how the money is spent is personal just like its repayment.

It is a well known fact that the HELB experiences problems of poor recovery of the loaned funds. This for sure is inevitable considering the scarcity of job employment nowadays. But HELB too should improve its services to its clients though. A visit to the anniversary towers is at times hectic with long queues in the congested rooms in their headquarters. Standing. A recent proposal to devolve its services was exceptional and should be thought about. Devolution here does not mean delegating its services to the counties; merely opening its branches in the various campuses will reduce time, money and energy wasted by comrades flocking to the headquarters daily. You might fathom how excruciating it might be for a student of Masai Mara University travelling all the way just to be told “kuja kesho”. No wonder over three quarters of the visitors you find there at any given time are UoN students. Anniversary towers is too far to many. Indeed, it is to high for neighboring UoN. The issue of misuse of the money by students could be solved by an interval procedure of disbursement where for instance a loan of 20,000 is banked at rates of 5000 shillings a month. This will curb the spend thrift nature where even before mid semester some comrades are broke.

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