SPEECH BY HON EKWEE ETHURO, CHAIRMAN, HELB, DURING THE OPENING ON THE FIRST NON-MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TRAINING INSTITUTIONS’ CONSULTATIVE FORUM AT THE LAKE NAIVASHA RESORT.

SPEECH BY HON EKWEE ETHURO, CHAIRMAN, HELB, DURING THE OPENING ON THE FIRST NON-MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TRAINING INSTITUTIONS’ CONSULTATIVE FORUM AT THE LAKE NAIVASHA RESORT.

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Distinguished Guests, Administrators of Training Institutions, HELB Management & Staff Ladies and Gentlemen,  Good Morning. As we continue to celebrate the achievements made so far by the Higher Education Loans Board [HELB] in empowering dreams by providing financial intervention to Kenyans pursuing higher education, I wish to recognize the contribution made by all stakeholders in …

Distinguished Guests,

Administrators of Training Institutions,

HELB Management & Staff

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Good Morning.

As we continue to celebrate the achievements made so far by the Higher Education Loans Board [HELB] in empowering dreams by providing financial intervention to Kenyans pursuing higher education, I wish to recognize the contribution made by all stakeholders in the higher education sector through financing, training, capacity building for economic growth.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this important event themed: Leaving No Student Behind: Aligning TVET funding amidst education sector reforms for sustainability. We have organized this event to explore ways of enhancing strategic partnerships in financing training for high growth sectors represented here such as agriculture, aviation, transport, surveying and mapping, energy, maritime, water, ICT, tourism and wildlife. The main objective of the forum is to develop sustainable solutions that will address critical skills gaps through training and capacity building in the various sectors.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Higher Education Loans Board [HELB] is a statutory body established in July 1995 by an Act of Parliament “Higher Education Loans Board Act” Cap 213A of the Laws of Kenya. As stipulated in the HELB Act of 1995 the objective and purpose for which HELB was established is for the management of a fund to be used for granting loans to assist Kenyan students in obtaining higher education at recognized institutions of higher learning.

HELB is also mandated to recover all mature loans it has granted, those issued by Higher Education Loans Fund [HELF] and   the Ministry of Education from 1974 to 1995 when HELB was established. From 1974 to 30th June 2022, a total of Kshs.143B has been disbursed to 1.3M loanees.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There has been an increase in rates of admissions in the universities and TVET colleges and this has heightened the demand for loans and bursaries. To increase funds available for students, HELB has revamped loan recovery efforts through several initiatives which include big data management, informal sector management, diaspora collections among other strategies.

As a result, the number of loanees repaying their loans is projected to grow by 26% from the financial year 2022/2023 to 2030/2031. With the increased focus and financing of students in TVET, the number of beneficiaries servicing their TVET loan is projected to increase from 7,436 in 2023/2024 to 77,340 in 2030/2031, a growth of 940%.

In bridging the perennial funding gap, and to ensure that No Student is Left Behind HELB has embarked on strategic partnerships to establish revolving funds aimed at strengthening the implementation of its mandate while at the same time building capacity for various sectors in the economy. To date, HELB has partnered with 40 partners who have brought on board Kshs.2.5B. The partners include International and Local NGOs, Corporates, County governments, Constituencies, Foundations, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Training Institutions and Individuals.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Further to this, HELB has also moved to align funding to high growth sectors of the economy. They include Agriculture, Blue Economy Maritime, Health, Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation among others These are sectors aligned to the SDGs, which have been projected to have insufficiency of skills and with the sectors having a high potential of employment for our youths. This realization has led to the creation of sector specific schemes in collaboration with partners to address skill shortages in the Water, Sanitation and Irrigation sector, Health, Legal, Communication, Blue Economy, and other business sectors.

It has been noted that due to the technical nature of training in the specialized training institutions, the fees charged is relatively higher than the fee charged by other general training institutions. For example, the annual fee for a diploma at Bandari Maritime Authority costs Kshs.190,000.00, at Kenya School of Law is Kshs.225,000.00, at Kenya Water Institute Kshs.160,000.00, these amounts are out of reach for many of our students. This situation appertains in many other TVET institutions.

There is a lot of potential for training institutions.   Public and the private sectors are invited to partner in capacity building for various sectors of the economy. We recognize that there are 40 Non-MoE training institutions that play a key role in training and capacity building in the economy, however, under the current mode of operation,  trainees from these institutions are not able to access HELB funding. This has been exacerbated by the fact that HELB budget through Ministry of Education covers only training institutions under the Ministry of Education.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To address this situation, HELB has sought partnership with various Non-MoE institutions such as Kenya Medical Training College, Bandari Maritime Academy, Kenya School of Law, Kenya Water Institute, Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, and related sector players such as Ministry of Health, Kenya Maritime Authority, KASNEB, Council for Legal Education to develop sustainable solutions. These institutions have set up training revolving funds for in their institutions through the support of relevant stakeholders in their sectors. Through these initiatives, a total of 50,000 plus, beneficiaries have been trained.

In conclusion Ladies and Gentlemen

I challenge this forum to come up with solutions or proposals for addressing the existing gaps that will enable achievement of the country’s development goals. This forum can come up with sustainable and value adding synergies that will address these critical skills gaps. For example, we see great opportunity for Kenya Institute of Mass Communication working with The Communication Authority of Kenya, Bukura working with the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), East Africa School of Aviation working with Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, Wildlife Research Training Institute working with the Kenya Wildlife Society. In the way Kenya Maritime Authority has supported maritime training at Bandari Maritime Authority, these partnerships if actualized with revolutionize training and capacity building in these sectors.

Allow me to thank you once more for gracing this occasion. I am convinced that this initiative will help the Government in realizing its MTP III, the BETA Agenda, Kenya Vision 2030 as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through training and capacity building which has been identified as a key enabler.

God Bless Kenya, God Bless You, God Bless HELB.