Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina has filed a complaint with the Departmental Committee on Education on the delay in the release of Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) funds.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, February 18, Njeri urged the Departmental Committee on Education to provide clarity on the ongoing financing problem, citing complaints from students around the country who claim to be cash-strapped.
“Despite the government’s undertaking to revert to the old Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) model, there has been an apparent lack of commitment to timely disbursement of funds to students,” Njeri Maina said in her submission.
The woman representative alleges that the delayed transfer of cash violated Article 43(1), which provides every Kenyan the right to education.The Kirinyaga Woman representative has now requested a thorough report on the financing impasse.
She needs information on the entire amount of cash disbursed by the National Treasury under the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) model, including particular dates of disbursement.
Furthermore, the Departmental Committee on Education has been asked to report the total number of pupils who have benefited from the disbursed monies since November 2024.
They should also put in place procedures to ensure timely disbursement of funding to minimize future disruptions in learning. On December 20, 2024, the High Court deemed the new higher education funding model illegal, thereby prohibiting its adoption until the government verified constitutional and legal compliance.
What followed was a wave of uncertainty among university students, particularly third and fourth-year students who rely heavily on the money provided by higher education institutions.
Two months later, in February, students protested delays in disbursed payments, causing HELB to pave in and disburse funding to first and second-year students using the old model while they await a judgment on their appeal to the High Court.
In an effort to calm mounting student discontent, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba indicated that the money had been disbursed because it had already been budgeted in the 2024/25 budget.
“The government will release funding to universities based on the new university funding model even as it seeks ways to address the issues raised by the court because the money is already in the budget,” the CS said.
Meanwhile, the Departmental Committee on Education is anticipated to respond to Maina with a thorough report on Tuesday, February 25.
