Kenyan students who apply for HELB loans will now be required to have a smartcard as one of the conditions set out by Kenya’s students loans board. According to the Education Cabinet secretary Amina Mohamed, students who qualify for the loans will receive their money through the cards to cater for tuition fees and accommodation charges. The development will ensure funds are disbursed on time and eliminate issues that involved typos and other errors such as wrong bank account details.
“The cards will ensure effective and efficient management of funds that have been invested in the education sector by the government. I also remind universities that as earlier directed, this smart card solution must be in place in September this year,” said Ms Mohamed.
While speaking at a HELB’s offices located at anniversary towers, the chief executive officer – Charles Ringera indicated that learners without smartcards will miss out come September as the institution will only disburse via the smartcards. He also added the move would promote transparency in a sector that has since been marred with fraudulent dealings.
Earlier in the year, HELB has seen a reduction in the number of defaulters’ courtesy of the 100 percent penalty waiver announced by the cabinet secretary; which helped in reduction of defaulter accounts from 78000 to 61000.
HELB has been pivotal in aiding needy students access higher education on loan and since it was introduced, the institution has supported more than 671,448 students with amounts totaling to Ksh4 billion.