Over 150,000 students risk missing out on university admission due to Helb budget cuts

More than 153,292 students set to join the university in September 2024 may miss out on admission due to budget cuts and underfunding of the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) and the Universities Fund by the Treasury.

These students, who had already been placed in universities through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), are now staring at a crisis.

"This leaves a total of 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.

The Helb allocation for the Financial Year 2024-2025 was reduced by Sh710 million, while the Universities Fund was cut by Sh2.6 billion.

This was revealed by the State Department of Higher Learning on the new Supplementary Budget estimates last week while reviewing the Supplementary Budget Estimates (No.1) for the Financial Year 2024-2025.

According to the new estimates, Helb's allocation has been reduced to Sh31.18 billion from Sh31.89 billion, and University Funding has been cut to Sh16.921 billion from Sh19.55 billion. Notably, this allocation is only intended to support students in their second to sixth years.

Budget deficit

Principal Secretary for Higher Learning Beatrice Inyangala told the Education Committee that ongoing underfunding by the Treasury has left the State Department with a Sh22.9 billion budget deficit.

This deficit includes Sh13.7 billion for Helb and Sh9.1 billion for the Universities Fund, which will impact the funding of loans and scholarships for students nationwide.

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

National Treasury officials led by Nehemiah Odero struggled to justify the decision to cut funding, admitting they did not consult 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," he said.

As a result, Committee Chair Melly directed the two parties to engage in consultations to ensure adequate funding for 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 stated.