Outcry As Some Underage Students Fail To Write End Of Semester Exams Over HELB Delays

• There has been confusion over the eligibility of these underage students to receive scholarships or any funding owing to their lack of national identity cards
• In late August 2023, the Cabinet waived the requirement of national identity cards for underage university students to make them eligible for allocations from HELB.
• However, this unpreceded decision did nothing for the majority of students who have yet to receive any funding from the government

Dennis Lubanga, a Kenyan journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than 10 years of experience covering politics, news, and feature stories across digital and print media in Kenya.

Nairobi - Hundreds of students from needy families have missed out on government funding and sponsorship on account of being underage.

The students, many of whom were unable to write their end-of-semester exams due to fee arrears, are accusing the government of going back on its promise that no student will miss out on government funding.

Why Kenya's underage students lack gov't funding

Citizen TV reported that there has been confusion over the eligibility of these underage students to receive scholarships or any funding owing to their lack of national identity cards.

In late August 2023, the Cabinet waived the requirement of national identity cards for underage university students to make them eligible for allocations from HELB.

However, this unpreceded decision did nothing for the majority of students who have yet to receive any funding from the government.

What Charles Ringera said about the issue

While denying that the board is penalising leaves for being too young, HELB CEO Charles Ringera said that 26,000 applications without IDs, 23,000 were successfully processed, and their tuition loan and scholarships were paid to respective universities and colleges.

"The challenge we have is upkeep loans, which go to the students bank accounts or Mpesa accounts," said Ringera.

TUKO.co.ke previously reported that Abuya Masta, a university student, had to defer his university studies because of KSh 330,000 in arrears, which he cannot raise.

JKUAT student fails to write exams

In an interview with TUKO.co.ke, Masta revealed that he is a fourth-year student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

He is a Medical Laboratory Science student. "My father and mother separated in 1999, and I have been educating myself since Class Seven," said Masta.

"I used to plant trees and pay for school fees in primary school, which was negligible. In high school, I used to make alcohol and also sell coffee sourced from my neighbours. I also used to pay with 20kg of maize and 10 kg of beans, then add KSh 5,000," he shared.

After high school, Masta learnt that he had been called to the Kenya Medical Training College in Kakamega.

When Masta joined JKUAT, his fee per semester was KSh 102,000 per term, but now it is KSh 124,000.