I’m penning this after being a beneficiary of this money for a period of three years now. Many students after joining first year in various universities and campuses, HELB is term that you will hear most of them mention once in a while, which is not a bad idea though.
Let us face the facts; this is a loan that only students from poor backgrounds should apply, but this not always the case. First, most of us fail the integrity test by filling those forms with half-truths. Lies at their best are quite evident in those application forms. Our society from that point onwards starts grooming fellas of zero integrity. You find that students from well-to-do backgrounds are applying for the loan indicating how they poor are. In most cases, people who deserve it go home with merely nothing.
My plea is this; if you are able to raise your tuition fee, don’t be in a hurry to apply for this loan and secondly try and fill in the truth, only the pure truth. Our country needs to raise young men and women of integrity. I mean, after four years that ‘free’ money that have been enjoying you will start to pay with a 4% interest rate. That’s the truth, if you used to get Kshs. 50,000 every academic year, you can do your calculations. And I hear it is not that easy finding a job without having HELB clearance form. It is that harsh my dear comrades.
Also the government has a role to play here. It is their duty to provide education to its populace, we pay lots of taxes why can’t you make this become a grant for good, of which by doing so you will help many of struggling students out there. Another thing, if the aforementioned is not possible, why not give us those jobs so that we can be able to re-pay you? It is very inconsiderate for the employers to ask a graduate to produce HELB clearance form, yet he or she wants the same job to pay out the loan.
Eventually, every stakeholder needs to look at this in a different perspective: government, the employer and the students as well, for better higher learning and easy transition into the job market.