For most Kenyans, Helb loans are the reason why life in Universities or Colleges was bearable, with most of them coming from humble backgrounds.
However, upon the completion of the university programme, then does the weight of paying back the loan kick in.
Sadly for most youth, the struggle to repay become even heavier as rarely do they get employed as soon as they complete their courses, hence have no income to help them service the loan.
Despite that reality, the Ministry of Education on Wednesday announced that the board will be on a mission to recover Ksh7.2 billion owed by 74,000 defaulters.
Making the declaration, Education CS Amina Mohammed stated that the crackdown would begin any time from now, requesting employers to help them track down the individuals.
“We are also going to partner with our law enforcement agencies to track down those holding jobs and yet are reluctant to stand up to be counted as responsible and patriotic citizens who honour their debts,” she affirmed.
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Reiterating the CS’s sentiments, Helb chief executive Charles Ringera noted that they are also seeking to partner with the Foreign Affairs ministry to track down defaulters in the diaspora.
“We are having a large number of graduates leaving the country to work abroad majority who have defaulted,” he exclaimed.
Ms Mohamed said the annual Helb student loan budget has grown from Sh4.6 billion financing 109,189 students in 2012 to Sh11.4 billion for 248,050 students in the 2017/18 financial year.
She further noted that 53 percent Helb budget is funded by the exchequer and 47 percent from loan recovery.
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