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"id": 202162,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/202162/?format=api",
"text_counter": 97,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Mango",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 288,
"legal_name": "Christine Mango",
"slug": "christine-mango"
},
"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it operates under Cap.213A of the Laws of Kenya. It empowered the HELB to establish a revolving fund or the students' loans scheme to finance higher education. All the past beneficiaries are required to repay their loans so that more students could benefit. For the time being, this loans scheme is being administered to students who have been selected by the Joint Admissions Board (JAB) to join public universities and also those students pursuing education in private universities who have applied for loans. Although this money is budgeted for, it is not enough to cater for all the students. It is also centralised in Nairobi. So, students from Mandera, Wajir and other parts of Kenya will have difficulties to travel to Nairobi to access the loans. If they have any queries, it is quite hard for them to present them to the HELB. The bursary fund is not enough to cater for every needy student in the country. Therefore, it has been a limiting factor to students who want to access higher education. The HELB has been very commendable because it has been able to assist students from poor families. However, the disbursement of these loans remains a major constraint. Also, the loans are not sufficient and sometimes students drop out of institutions of higher learning because the money is not sufficient to take care of them. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, parents sell their pieces of land so that they can educate their children because the loan is not sufficient. The high cost of education remains a major constraint to many students to access higher education. For example, in 2006/2007 an estimated 39,000 students were awarded the loans compared to 38,000 in 2005/2006. This leaves out many students who scored mean grade C+ which is the minimum university entry grade. The students get a maximum of Kshs42,000 and some get as low as Kshs20,000 which is not enough to sustain them throughout the year. Therefore, there are many complaints that the money is not sufficient and there is need for 4158 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES September 26, 2007 the Ministry to look into the matter and see whether they could increase the funding to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) so that many students can access the loans and get sufficient amount of money. There is also gender disparity in the award of those loans. A total of 24,833 male students were given loans as compared to 12,000 female students in 2005/2006. Similarly, in 2006/2007, 25,000 male students and only 12,000 female got the loans. Thus, only half the number of female students as compared to males have been getting the loans. That seems to perpetuate the disparity within the education sector as far as female students are concerned. If we continue like that, we will not bridge the gender gap between the female students and the male students. The Budget allocation to HELB is so inadequate that many students who qualify with a minimum grade C+ are left out, thus wasting the human resource that we should be developing. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, currently HELB disburses loans from Nairobi, which is a centralised place. This has left many students from far off areas of the country disadvantaged because they have to travel long distances to fill the forms and when they are queried, they cannot come back to Nairobi fast because it is expensive. So, they cannot travel to Nairobi quickly to appeal and sort out the issues of their loans. Therefore, HELB needs to be decentralised so that the service is brought closer to all students. The constituency remains the central point for all Kenyans. Therefore, this service should be taken to the constituency so that Kenyans are served from the constituencies rather than from Nairobi. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the loan form is also cumbersome and many students find it difficult to fill the forms as required. Many students have been technically disqualified because of the questions in the forms. Therefore, HELB forms need to be simplified for the benefit of the applicants. Currently, HELB disburses Kshs1.6 billion per year while it receives only Kshs800 million. This means that many applicants are not catered for. Also HELB needs to have mechanisms for collection of the repayments from the loanees. It needs to bring in the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to help it collect the money from the loanees so that more students can benefit. The KRA can provide valuable support to HELB in collecting repayment loans from the beneficiaries who are now working. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, HELB plays a major role in support of higher education and, therefore, should be supported with more funds so that many Kenyans can access the loans. If we are to industrialise, we have to train more Kenyans and create more human resource who will contribute to the industrialisation of this country. Therefore, HELB plays a major role but it does not have enough funds to support students who go overseas as private students, those who go to private universities and those who undertake parallel programmes. They are all part of the human resource that is being created to develop this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this country needs skilled and well-trained manpower. Therefore, concerted efforts and strategies are needed for this country to develop that human resource. The constituency, as a development unit, is very important and, therefore, HELB needs to be decentralised to the constituency level so that it can be accessed from there instead of Nairobi, where many parents and students find it difficult to reach to apply for the loans. Therefore, I would like to seek leave of the House so that we could amend Cap.213 to allow for the introduction of the Constituency Higher Education Loans Scheme, which will ensure that all qualified students within a constituency, and from all corners of Kenya, are provided with access to scholarships. The recent trend in admission criteria by the Joint Admissions Board (JAB) is that the cut-off point is rising every year. When the cut-off point keeps rising every year, it leaves out very many qualified students. It does not mean that those students who are not admitted by JAB are not qualified to join university. Therefore, if the HELB is decentralised, the constituency will look at those who have qualified and award them funding to join university on parallel September 26, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4159 programmes, so that they can further their education. That way, students from all areas will be provided with funds to be able to access higher education. This will contribute to human resource development. It is, therefore, my humble request that we decentralise HELB from Nairobi to the constituencies for easy access. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, education is very important to all Kenyans. Some parents even sell their parcels of land to have their children complete secondary school. Such parents do so because they value education. The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is a very noble idea, which has helped many Kenyans to access higher education. However, we need to take a step further, and take it to the constituency level, so that many Kenyans can access it more easily, without having to travel all the way to Nairobi. HELB should be decentralised to the constituency level to work in the same way as the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), so that it can be accessible to all Kenyans. That way, constituencies will distribute the money fairly to all students. Just as the CDF has been a noble idea, which is helping this country to develop, if we decentralise the HELB, it will also reach more people more conveniently and easily as opposed to the way it is now. Many students do not know much about HELB. Although the mechanism for disbursing HELB money is good, it is very far away from the people. A student may not have money to enable him travel to Nairobi to fill the application forms for bursary and also know whatever is available. So, this noble idea should be extended to all parts of Kenya to make it more accessible. That way, the money will be distributed better than it is being distributed now. It will reach more Kenyans than it is doing currently. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of equity in this country is very important. The CDF has shown the way. Devolution of the CDF has made it possible for the money to reach more areas, and it is being utilised in better ways. Therefore, HELB should also be devolved to the constituency level to make it accessible to more students. It will help to level off the situation, so that more students can access university education through the Joint Admissions Board (JAB) or the parallel degree programme. Education is the most important component in developing the human resource. Therefore, we need to spread HELB money to all parts of Kenya, so that we can develop all Kenyans and contribute to human resource development, as well as to nation building at a higher level. That way, Kenya will easily industrialize using the developed human resource. With those remarks, I beg to move and ask Mr. Sungu to second the Motion."
}