Relief as state allocates Sh500m to KMTC for HELB sponsorship

Students at Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) can breathe a sigh of relief after the government reinstatement Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) sponsorship programme.

The college has been allocated Sh500 million by the National Treasury in the 2024/2025 supplementary budget to support financially needy students.

Until the close of the 2023/2024 Financial Year, KMTC students were beneficiaries of the HELB support programme. 

“This means we will go ahead and ask the Treasury to release the funds. Once the money reaches our bank, which may take a few weeks, we will ask HELB to open the portal for students to apply,” KMTC CEO Dr Kelly Oluoch said.

Oluoch, however, noted that a government directive to channel Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) funds exclusively to institutions under the Ministry of Education left many needy KMTC students without access to financial aid.

“The absence of funding had placed a heavy burden on many of our students, making it difficult for them to continue with their training,” Oluoch said.

“This prompted us to engage extensively with key government bodies, including the Parliamentary Committee on Health and the Ministry of Health, to advocate for the reinstatement of the funding,” he added.

According to Oluoch, the College, through the Ministry of Health, appeared before various arms of the National Assembly to push for the reinstatement of the programme.

This includes the Pending Bills Verification Committee on January 29, 2024, and the Departmental Committee on Health on February 23, 2024, among others.

In addition, the CEO, accompanied by Board Chairperson Joseah Cheruiyot, presented the matter to President William Ruto during the official opening of the KMTC Kerio Valley Campus on January 9, 2025.

“We are pleased to announce that our efforts have borne fruit. The Government has allocated Kshs 500 million for student loans in collaboration with HELB,” he said.

Since the programme’s inception in the 2022/2023 Financial Year, 22,342 KMTC students have benefited.