The Ministry of Education has reaffirmed the government’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that all deserving learners across Kenya have access to higher education.
This assurance is directed particularly to students, parents, guardians, and learning institutions amid growing concerns over affordability and inclusivity in the education sector.
The Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Education, Julius Ogamba, announced that both HELB and the 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 university’s fund has begun disbursing first-quarter scholarship funds for FY 2025/2026 to all public universities.
Similarly, Ogamba noted that applications for loans and scholarships for the 2024 KCSE cohort placed by KUCCPS are 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 per cent of university applicants and 51 per cent 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 the 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 to financial constraints.
By Michael Omondi
