HELB CEO Reveals Some Students Receive Funds Late
The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) Chief Executive Officer, Geoffrey Monari, has disclosed that some students fail to receive their funds on time because of incorrect account details.
Monari, while appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee on Thursday morning, said some students, particularly those who receive their funds through mobile money, often share incorrect phone numbers.
The HELB CEO explained that some students kept changing their phone numbers, using a different number during the disbursement process from the one they used during the application.
According to Monari, up to 40 per cent of the disbursements made are always channelled back to the loans board due to incorrect account details.
“We have also made it possible for students to receive their money through mobile money, however, the challenge we face with this is that some of the students keep on changing their phone numbers,” Monari disclosed.
“So when they apply, they have a different number but when we make the payment they have already changed the number so we find that up to 40 per cent of the disbursement comes back. We have to reroute them back when they provide the correct details,” he added.
Monari also noted that when HELB releases funds, it notifies all students about the disbursement through a Short Message Service (SMS) on the applicant’s device.
While addressing the legislators, Monari announced that HELB had put in place a robust communication system to ensure seamless operation and coordination between the learners and the loans board.
The revelation by the HELB CEO comes a day after the board disbursed Ksh1.56 billion to learners for tuition and upkeep. The beneficiaries were notified through HELB’s official communication channels.
According to Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba who spoke on Tuesday, March 18, a total of 33,863 university students benefitted from the loan disbursements.
The latest disbursement means that in the current Financial Year 2024/2025, HELB has disbursed a total of Ksh32.7 billion in upkeep and tuition loans to 390,612 students in universities.
“The provision of this funding will ensure that student and trainee needs are met, enabling them to continue with their academic, training and research programmes without hindrance,” Ogamba said.
HELB CEO Reveals Some Students Receive Funds Late