The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report received by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga is seeking to amend the management of state loans to students.
In the report, it is proposed that students get more time after completion of their coursework before they can begin repaying their loans.
If adopted fully, the proposal on the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), unemployed graduates and those without a source of income will be exempted from interest accumulation by simply informing thee loans board.
"The amendment seeks to give loanees a grace period od four years from the date of completion of their studies. After this, they can commence repayment of loans advanced to them," reads the report in part.
The report is rooting for changes on the HELB regulation such that loanees without a source of income are subjected to loan interests only after they either get a job or find a reliable source of income.
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"Further, it seeks to amend the HELB Act to exempt loanees without a source of income, upon application to the board, from paying interest on the loans advanced to them, till such time when the loanees shall start earning an income," indicates the report.
Currently, HELB loan terms and conditions state that student loans start accumulating interest from the date the first disbursement is made.
A student with a TVET loan of Ksh40,000 for instance is required to pay an interest of Ksh88 every month.
