First year students who have been fervently waiting to taste the sweetness of loans from Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) will have to wait longer after the parastatal declared on Monday that the freshmen will start getting the money in January.
The state corporation said that the ‘process of registration and verification of the forms had just started following the passing of the submission deadline’ and the procedure will take around 21 days.
“The registration and verification process is anticipated to take the next 21 days. We will communicate to the applicants when the allocation process will commence. We urge you to be patient as this process goes on,” the parastatal noted.
This is a big blow to students who joined public universities in September this year hoping to receive the money by the end of November. With most of the universities being accused of over-admitting students, those joining universities are forced to look for accommodation outside the campus compound, something that hasn’t gelled well with parents and guardians, due to the expensive nature of life outside the campus vicinity.
HELB extended the application deadline to December 1 in what they termed as ‘large number of applicants’ and with several universities having different opening dates, the agency has been having difficulties in releasing the funds. Delays in disbursing funds forced students to hold massive picketing across the country in September this year, forcing Education Cabinet Secretary Prof Joseph Kaimenyi to give HELB and other stakeholders involved ultimatum to put their house in order.
Leave a comment