The Swahili people always say that “Kukopa Harusi ila Kulipa ni Matanga” This say makes a lot of sense in the Kenyan settings where Citizens have greatly mastered the art of borrowing and defaulting when it comes to payment.
The Higher Education Loand Board, HELB has been one of the most affected agencies with this regard as students keep taking huge loans for their studies but fail to pay even after securing job opportunities.
The Ministry of Education has now decided to act on these defaulters and has said that Some 74,000 HELB defaulters will now be tracked down by law enforcement agencies. This is according to Education CS Amina Mohamed.
She said graduates will be traced through their workplaces.
Amina spoke on Wednesday when she launched HELB’s five-year strategic plan at a Nairobi hotel.
“We will partner with the agencies to trace the defaulters. We want them to become reliable and responsible citizens by repaying their debts,” Amina said.
“This will include tracking graduates working in enterprises such as mobile transfer services like M-Pesa, Airtel Money and other emerging jobs. We hope by doing we will increase the resources that are available to HELB to support others.”
The HELB strategic plan 2019/2023 has been aligned to the Big Four Agenda and Vision 2030, the CS said.
“Due to the rapid expansion of higher education, enrollment is now in excess of 795,000 students, providing our country with amazing opportunities. However, there are also significant challenges that still confront this sector,” Amina said.