Students will receive loans through the cards to cater for tuition and accommodation charges instead of money being credited to their bank accounts.
The smart cards will allow timely disbursement of loans and eliminate errors experienced in the past when learners give wrong bank details.
All Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) beneficiaries joining universities this year will be required to have smart cards.
Helb chief operating officer Geoffrey Monari said students will receive loans through the cards to cater for tuition and accommodation charges instead of money being credited to their bank accounts.
The smart cards will allow timely disbursement of loans and eliminate errors experienced in the past when learners give wrong bank details.
Mr Monari said the move is also aimed at boosting transparency amid reports of fraudulent dealings.
“If you will not have the smart card, you will not get funding. Previously University vice-chancellors and Deans of Students used to release conflicting lists of beneficiaries at the last time making our work hard and therefore creating unnecessary pressure,” said Mr Monari.
A total of 88,626 students have been selected to study for various degree programmes in public and private universities.
About 71,089 students will join public universities while 17,368 students will join private universities while 28,261 students will join 70 technical colleges for diploma courses.
Mr Monari said students who will report to their respective institutions earlier than September will not get loans since the board’s financial year starts in July.
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