After months of planning, the Kenyan president Dr. William Ruto has promised to revolutionise the higher education sector in the country.
In his latest revelation, the president promised to establish a new national skills and funding council which in turn will see the abolition of the Higher Education Loans Board(HELB) which was responsible for providing loans to the underprivileged students in the higher learning and tertiary institutions in the country.
"To bridge the current higher education funding gap of up to 45%, the government will establish a national skills and funding council that emalgamates HELB, TVET and University funding board." he said
According to the president who was speaking in Mombasa, this move will link the two levels and provide a credit framework that will efficiently transform and support academic progression.
The formation of this Council will see the doubling of funding from the national government from the current 11 billion shillings to 22 billion shillings and will also scrap off the interests associated with HELB loans.
This funds will be accessed by students in the form of grants, bursaries and scholarships from private and public sponsors.
The head of State promised that the government will be hiring an additional 30,000 teachers.
"we intend to use our education to produce world class human capital. That's why in January we intend to hire more teachers to ensure that primary to junior secondary transition is flawless." Ruto said.