The People's Party of Kenya (PPK) Youth League has rejected in totality the proposed tertiary education financing Bill, accusing the government of turning student funding into a debt trap.
Speaking at the party headquarters in Nairobi, the youth leaders led by their Chairperson said funding should not become a debt to students and demanded the immediate publication of the findings of the Presidential Committee on Education Funding.
The League called on President William Ruto and the Cabinet Secretary for Education to remove all interest charges accrued from education loans, arguing that interest on student loans is punitive to poor learners.
They further demanded that graduates be given a three-year grace period before they start repaying their loans to allow for a smooth transition from education to employment, and that students who have not paid their loans be removed from the Credit Reference Bureau listing after three years.
According to the Youth League, the recommendations of the funding model review committee should be made public without further delay. They have given the government seven days to publish the report and provide clarity, failure to which they have threatened to publish it themselves.
