153,292 students risk missing university admission over Helb budget cuts

Students at HELB offices, Anniversary Towers, Nairobi. [File, Standard]

More than 153,292 students set to join university beginning September 2024 risk missing out on admission following budget cuts and under-funding of the Higher Education Loans Boards (Helb) and the Universities Fund by the Treasury.

The students who had already been placed to respective universities through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) are now staring at a crisis after the Helb allocation for the 2024/2025 financial year was slashed by Sh710 million while the Universities Fund was reduced by Sh2.6 billion.

This emerged during a sitting of the National Assembly Education Committee Thursday which was considering the Supplementary Budget Estimates (No.1) for the 2024/2025 financial year following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 by President William Ruto.

According to the new estimates, the Helb allocation has been reduced to Sh31.18 billion from an earlier allocation of Sh31.89 billion while the University Funding has been reduced to Sh16.921 billion from Sh19.55 billion. Notably, the allocation is only meant to cater for students in year 2 to year 6.

“This leaves a total 153,292 first-year students who sat for their KCSE exams in 2023 and who were placed by KUCCPS in universities inadequately funded. The students are due to report to their respective Universities in September 2024,” reads a report by the State Department of Higher Learning on the new Supplementary Budget Estimates.

Appearing before Education Committee, Higher Learning Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala disclosed that the continuous underfunding by the Treasury now leaves the State Department with a Sh22.9 billion budget deficit- comprising of Sh13.7 billion under Helb and Sh9.1 billion under the Universities Fund, which would affect funding of loans and scholarships to students across the country.

The Julius Melly-led committee consequently took issue with the National Treasury seeking to know what criteria it used in implementing the budget cuts.

“Were these budgetary deductions based on statistics or were they just done to balance the mathematics?” Posed Igembe North MP Julius Taitumu.

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Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera sought to know why the Treasury decided to further slash the State Department’s budget in critical areas such as students funding, despite the fact that it was already underfunded.

“These Gen Z’s were already in the streets due to the inadequate funding. Now that you have further cut down the funding, do you want them to come back to the streets?” He posed.

Mandera South MP Haro Abdul said: “It is very disheartening to see all those students who graduated potentially miss out on admission due to the underfunding. It is also disheartening knowing that those already in universities may walk out due to inadequate funding.”

“I think it is going to be a disservice for this committee to approve this budget as is, knowing very well that student funding is critical," he added.

Nyamira Women Rep Jerusha Momanyi argued that “given the underfunding, this means that the crisis in existence will continue. We need to talk to Treasury to ensure that the most critical areas are adequately funded.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Narok MP Tonkei Rebbeca who further questioned the reduction in university funding.

The National Treasury officials were however at pains to explain the radical decision to cut funding but admitted to not having consulted the State Department on the matter.

“We did not have any consultation with the department because this is not a normal Supplementary Budget. After this, however, we hope to sit and rationalise,” said Nehemiah Odero from the Treasury.

Committee Chair Melly directed that the two parties engage in consultations on how to ensure adequate funding for the critical sectors under the Higher Education Department such as student funding.

“On the student funding, we shall see what to do. We can pressurise the Budget Committee to look into this matter…it would however have been prudent for the Treasury to call the State Department to see how to cut funding from the non-critical areas as opposed to the critical ones,” he said.