By M, KNA
The Ministry of Education has assured all Kenyans, especially students, parents, guardians and learning institutions of the government’s strong and ongoing commitment to supporting access to higher education for all deserving learners.
The Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Education Julius Ogamba announced that both HELB and universities fund have been facilitated to disburse funds to universities and students, noting that disbursement of HELB loans for first year students will begin on August 15, 2025, in line with the reopening of universities.
“These funds will be released in phases to ensure a smooth transition into universities/ TVET colleges and to help students settle into their academic journey without interruption,” stated the CS in a press statement.
In addition, he disclosed that the universities fund has begun disbursing first quarter scholarship funds for this FY 2025/2026 to all public universities.
Similarly, Ogamba noted that applications for loans and scholarships for 2024 KCSE cohort placed by KUCCPS is still ongoing, revealing that 129,403 university students and 60,976 TVET trainees have already submitted their scholarships and loan applications under the Student-Centred Funding Model (SCFM).
This application portal remains open until August 31, 2025 and we encourage all eligible students who have not yet applied to do so before the deadline date,” he urged.
Further, the CS disclosed that the government under the SCFM HELB and the universities fund, expects to support 201,695 first-year university students and over 237,000 TVET trainees in addition to 257,523 ongoing students.
So far, according to Ogamba, the submitted applications represent 64 percent of university applicants and 51 percent of those expected for the September TVET intake, reflecting good progress.
“Processing of the already received applications is ongoing to ensure timely funds disbursements to students and Institutions of Higher Learning,” he added.
To ensure no student is left behind, Ogamba reported that the government has increased HELB’s annual funding from Sh36 billion to Sh41 billion, a significant boost of Sh5 billion.
Of this, he declared that Sh13 billion has already been released to support tuition and upkeep of students while Sh16.9 billion has been allocated to the universities fund for scholarships.
Meanwhile, the CS reaffirmed that the Ministry remains committed to ensuring that no eligible student is left behind due financial constraints.