Parents and students are facing a setback after the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) announced that it will not issue new loans or bursaries until the courts make a decision on the new funding model.
This decision follows a court order to suspend the model, which has been criticised as a threat to learning, partly with the funding bands that have confusion.
The development, among others, means that the learners will have to look for alternative sources of funding at a time more than 14,000 people who were expected to report to universities from August have not started their programmes.
Also to be affected are appeals where learners push for enhanced funding. Already, parents and students are questioning how they have been placed to bands that conflict with their ability to pay fees.
Justice Chacha Mwita ordered the Ministry of Education to stop the Variable Scholarships and Loan Funding (VSLF) model until the case is heard.
The hearing is scheduled for December 6.
“Following the court order issued on October 3, 2024, by Hon. Justice E.C. Mwita regarding the New Funding Model, we want to inform all stakeholders that HELB is fully complying with the order. We are also working closely with the Ministry of Education to explore all urgent legal options for a resolution,” HELB stated in a press release.
The new funding model was introduced on the recommendations of a Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms.
Under this model, students are classified as vulnerable, extremely needy, needy, or less needy. Vulnerable students get 82 percent of their funding as scholarships and 18 percent as loans, while less needy students get 38 percent as scholarships, 55 percent as loans, and seven percent to be contributed by parents or guardians.
