Review awarding of Helb loans to varsity students

The Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) is vital as it helps needy students continue with their education.

The effect this body has on needy students is quite laudable. It loans both self-sponsored students and those on Government programme — Joint Admission Board students.

The board loans students money for fees according to the different levels of need. The very needy students receive a higher amount than those who are capable of paying some fees for themselves. Had it not been for Helb, some bright but needy students could not have accessed higher education.

However, my concern is the way the cash is disbursed to students, especially those on privately sponsored programme. It makes no economic sense for a student who lives in dire poverty to apply for the loan to help them further their education only for it to be disbursed directly to the school accounts as fees, with no single cent for the student’s upkeep.

Figure this out, here is a student who has passed with a C+ and above, has no parents to take care of their upkeep, has no means of raising cash for rent while at school, let alone food and upkeep. This student applies for Helb which he/she is lucky enough to get.

Helb sends that loan directly as fees yet the poor student thought that the loan could help pay some fees, pay rent and upkeep as they struggle to seek other ways to raise the remaining fee. The million-dollar question is who does Helb pay fees for if the needy student remains needy and unable to even travel to school and attend lectures even after the fees is paid?

On the contrary, students on the Joint Admission Board, who pay less because the Government subsidises their fees, have their loans sent to their personal accounts. They at least have control on the loans they receive and can have the loan help them accomplish other important tasks in their day to day academic life. Though some students have squandered some of the money on less important things to the extent of forgetting their academics, this is not a reason enough to deny them use of their loans.

Some very clever JAB students have used this loan to start small businesses that have gone a long way to help them become entrepreneurs while in school and long after finishing school.

Some have been known to ditch their careers and go on with what they started while in university, courtesy of the loan they received. Most of such entrepreneurs have even paid the same loans from the businesses that the loans helped start.

Now, my major concern is with the privately sponsored students’ loans. Why can’t Helb just help these students fully? Many of these students, besides paying a huge amount as fees, are from poor backgrounds. Why should Helb deny them usage of their “loans” when they will actually pay back once they start earning?

It is high time the loans board started sending the loans to the accounts of students for them to manage the cash. These loans, just like with JAB students, can go a long way in helping the private-sponsored students to build their lives and study at the same time.

Having some students access the loans while others have their loans sent directly to their school accounts is discrimination. Helb should just devise ways that could ensure students get lessons on money management.