North Imenti MP Rahim Dawod has promised to initiate legislation in Parliament once it resumes from recess that will enhance the enlisting of students from Teachers Training Colleges (TTC) as beneficiaries of Higher Education Loans Board funding (HELB).
Speaking at Meru Teachers Training College during the official opening of a newly built dormitory, Mr. Dawood said he has information that the current HELB guidelines do not allow funding of the TTCs, and as a result, the formulation of such legislation in parliament was eminent.
“I am in talks with the Parliamentary Committee on Education, and I promise that I will push for the legislation in order to ensure the learners from these institutions, just like their colleagues in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVETs), benefit from HELB funding,” said Dawood.
He added that some of the learners from TVETs who are benefiting from the funding were undertaking Diploma programmes just like those in TTCs, and therefore there should be no discrimination.
“Teachers are the foundation of any nation, including Kenya, and therefore they should be taken good care of just from their training points,” said Dawood.
He added that as the North Imenti National Government Constituency Development Fund (GCDF) patron, he will continue working closely with such institutions in order to support them in their education pursuit.
“I have been awarding bursaries to North Imenti students in these institutions, and I will continue with this spirit even as we continue pursuing the HELB issue,” said Dawood.
Imenti North Deputy County Commissioner Ms. Odilliah Ndeti, who also attended the event, called on all the Meru Teachers Training College stakeholders to start recruiting learners who have just completed their secondary education as early as now in order to make it relevant and available for more learners.
By Dickson Mwiti
