President William Ruto has slammed some rich and salaried Kenyans who have criticized his revamped strategy of giving HELB monies to university students.
During a church service in Riruta yesterday, Ruto stated that he had been made aware of certain wealthy folks’ dissatisfaction with his new HELB formulae.
The Head of State increased university fees upwards and adjusted the criterion by which students would benefit from the funding in the new equations.
Some students could receive full scholarships, while others would have to foot the price or take out loans to pay their studies.
“We have increased funding for TVET and university students.” “We’ve decided not to send money to universities for students; instead, we’ll give them scholarships,” he explained.
“We will identify needy students and provide them with full scholarships.” Kenya belongs to all of us, and we must consider everyone.”
Ruto, on the other hand, insisted that the new formulae were aimed at youngsters from low-income families. Both university and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) students would be eligible for the new stipend.
“Some leaders argue that the plan requires students to pay university tuition. Listen, the children of the wealthy and those with a wage are the ones I want to pay their whole school expenses for. “It’s not a lot of money; it’s Ksh25,000 per semester,” he added.
“You (wealthy people) used to pay Ksh200,000 school fees for students in academies and expensive high schools yet you complain about paying Ksh25,000 in the university.”
After hearing proposals from the Education task force chaired by Prof Raphael Munavu, the Head of State announced in May that universities will no longer receive capitation per student.
The government will give 59% of the scholarships and 34% of the loans, with the student paying only 7%.
