Private students get loans

Kenya's higher education loans board has introduced loans for students at chartered private universities.

The board has set aside five million shillings (Pounds 50,000) for poorer students at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Daystar University, Scott Theological College and University of Eastern Africa in Baraton.

Although 5,000 students from the four chartered private institutions applied for loans, only 200 students received them after family means testing. The maximum loan a university student can get is 42,000 shillings a year.

Loans board chief Chacha Nyaigotti-Chacha said: "We have revised our methods for giving loans and we are very strict."

Each year, between 41,000 and 45,000 university students apply for loans and bursaries from the board, set up at the request of the World Bank two years ago.

Some MPs oppose private students getting loans. University of Nairobi students last year rioted when the government announced the policy change after private-sector student pressure.