University students will have a tougher huddle during industrial attachment after the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) announced phasing out internship loans to undergraduate students.
HELB Chief Executive officer Charles Ringera on Monday announced the shift to scale down the internship loans that range between Sh6,000 and Sh12,000 in two years.
The students have been asked to seek for financial aid from the National Industrial Training Authority that is mandated to supports their industrial attachment.
The financial aid has been helping students cater for their accommodation needs during attachment at the middle or end of their course work.
Higher learning institutions have been asked to inform students that the aid has been scrapped off.
“We have requested universities to advice students that the attachment support program has been faced out since the board has been struggling to meet financial needs of the rising number of students, universities and programs requiring field practice support,” said Ringera.
Students from poor backgrounds obtain HELB loans to meet tuition fee and upkeep needs.