Thursday, January 5, 2023 – President William Ruto has announced plans to abolish the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) which has been of huge benefit to students from humble backgrounds.
However, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino warned Ruto not to go ahead with his crazy idea or else there would be trouble.
In a tweet, the lawmaker claimed that university students were poor and thus dependent on the HELB funds.
“Ruto, HELB wachana nayo Kabisa. Comrades are poor and only education will save them from the yoke of poverty. For we live in an hour of change and challenge, decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases the greater our ignorance unfolds,” Babu Owino said.
His remarks come after a section of Azimio leaders questioned the plan by President Ruto to disband HELB.
“As you disband HELB, what happens to the poor university students who are due to report for their new semester this month? Do they also defer their studies for six months, which is historic?” National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi posed.
The Head of State on January 1 said that HELB was to be disbanded and replaced with the National Skill and Funding Council (NSFC).
He said NSFC would double the HELB funding and also mobilize bursaries and scholarships for university students.
“Instead of different funding systems, the government will establish the National Skill and Funding Council (NSFC) that will amalgamate the existing funding bodies,” Ruto said.
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