President William Ruto
President William Ruto is set to abolish the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) that has been giving funds to university students for years.
Speaking while ushering in the new year in Mombasa, the Head of State stated that he will provide an alternative to address the challenges of university and TVET students.
“In the last four months I have been in office, I have laid a perfect groundwork that will transform the country’s tertiary education system.
“Instead of different funding systems, the government will establish the National Skill and Funding Council (NSFC) that will amalgamate the existing funding bodies,” Ruto announced.
The President also stated that the NSFC will have an increased funding of up to 50% that what HELB has been receiving.
“The new body will double the current HELB funds from Ksh 11 billion to Ksh 22 billion.” Ruto revealed.
“NSFC will further mobilize grants, bursaries, and scholarships from private and public sponsors to cover non-tuition costs,” he added.
President William Ruto’s decision to scrap HELB was based on the report compiled by the task force set to review the Competency Based Curriculum.
The Head of State also announced that the government will hire 30,000 additional teachers for basic education, as well as 3,000 tutors for TVET institutions this year.
“We intend to use our education system to develop world-class human capital. This is why, in January, we set out to hire more teachers to ensure that our primary to junior secondary transition is flawless,” President Ruto said.
He further stated that the government intends to spend Ksh 15 billion to equip 70 TVET institutions to assist in the training of learners and prepare them for the labour market.
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