HELB bars ‘old’ students from applying for loans & scholarships

University students above 18 years joining institutions of higher learning to miss scholarship over ID processing delay.

This was revealed following an enquiry by Principal Secretary, State Department for Higher Education and Research Beatrice Inyangala.

Inyangala asked the government body to reply after concerns from Kenyans that young students were unable to apply for funding through the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

The University Fund revealed that young Kenyans yet to attain the age of 18 years could still go ahead and apply for the scholarship.

The loan application portal allows the students to circumvent the ID requirement by allowing the prospective undergraduates to key in their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Index number instead.

This option will not work for students who are above 18 years old and are yet to get their national IDs.

Elsewhere, HELB has announced that all government employees were eligible for an educational loan.

The Jielimishe Loan ensures that government employees under permanent and pensionable terms receive up to Ksh600,000 for advancing their education.

Additionally, staff from selected private companies can access the educational loan.

To verify if a private company is eligible for the loan Kenyans are asked to email the name of the firm to jielimishe@helb.co.ke

For undergraduate students applying for second and subsequent loans, they are advised to use USSD code *642# to submit their application.