The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has announced it has begun the distribution of tuition loans to universities and Technical Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) institutions.

This marks an important moment for over 175,000 undergraduate students and more than 70,000 TVET continuing students under the Old Higher Education Funding Model (OFM).

The board made the announcement on Thursday via a statement it issued to newsrooms.

"The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has commenced the distribution of tuition loans to universities and Technical Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) institutions, marking a pivotal moment for over 175,000 undergraduate students and more than 70,000 TVET continuing students under the Old Higher Education Funding Model (OFM)," the statement read.

These funds are currently being disbursed to students through their preferred payment channels, which include bank accounts or the HELB Mobile Wallet.

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Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs), encompassing universities and colleges, have been strongly urged to facilitate the registration process for students.

Additionally, these institutions have been informed that tuition fee allocations have been released, with the funds expected to appear in the respective bank accounts of the HLIs by October 5th, 2023.

For students who are applying for funding under the New Higher Education Funding Model (NFM), encompassing both loans and scholarships, there is a notable extension granted by the Education Cabinet Secretary on September 5th, 2023.

As a result, the application deadline for this category of students has been extended to October 7th, 2023.

"For the First-Time students applying for Funding under the New Higher Education Funding Model [NFM] for both Loans & Scholarships, the deadline for application is 7th October 2023 as per the extension granted by the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education, Hon. Ezekiel Machogu on 5th September 2023," the statement read.

"The processing and disbursement of their Loans & Scholarships for both tuition and upkeep will follow shortly after the deadline date of 7th October 2023."

This is welcome as relief by a section of students who are struggling students some of whom had gone on strike over the delayed disbursement of the funds.

Students from the Multimedia University staged protests on Monday over the same coupled by other issues the said they were facing in the institutions.

They caused havoc on Magadi Road, paralysing transport on the otherwise busy route forcing the authorities to send in a cavalry of riot police to quell the mayhem.