Nearly 10,000 distressed students have on Friday 2rd August registered appeals through the Higher Education Fund (HEF) portal, challenging the new university funding model.
Geoffrey Monari, Chief Executive Officer of the Universities Fund, disclosed that the review process is already underway, with students expected to receive updates on the status of their appeals within three weeks of their application date.
“We have received over 10,000 appeals, and this process is ongoing. Our goal is to identify where these needy students are so we can place them in the appropriate funding band,” Monari stated. “Once the appeals are processed, we will notify universities to review the household fees for these students. This information will also be updated on the HEF portal, and students will receive an SMS alert to inform them,” he added.
The government has processed 127,591 student loan applications and categorized them into five bands under the new, controversial Higher Education Funding model. Monari also revealed that Ksh.5.2 billion has been released to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) for tuition and upkeep loans, with Ksh.2.8 billion allocated to the Universities Fund for scholarships.
“This money will be disbursed to students next week, with the process already underway. We will prioritize the release of loans to address students’ daily needs,” Monari assured, adding that scholarship funds would be released to universities a week later.
The new model places students to funding bands based on their financial needs, ranging from band one to band five, depending on their family’s economic status.
In a statement on Friday, Education CS Julius Ogamba emphasized that the ministry is working diligently to disburse the necessary funds to students by August 30, 2024. He also announced that the deadline for applying for funding has been extended from August 15, 2024, to December 31, 2024.
The CS urged students to provide accurate information when filling out applications to ensure proper placement in the funding categories.