Science and Kiswahili students to win big in new funding window

Dar es Salaam. At least top 500 students in science courses are set to be given full scholarship by the government in the academic year 2022/23, as those who will study Kiswahili in universities join the priority group in the allocation of higher education loans.

This was revealed yesterday by Education, Science and Technology minister Adolf Mkenda while launching the loan application guide for over 200,000 higher education students who will be applying for funding.

He said that for the academic year 2021/22 the government allocated Sh570 billion in loans, thus benefiting a total of 177,800 students.

For the academic year 2022/23, he said the government has allocated Sh573 billion, of which, Sh570 billion is loans and Sh3 billion will be provided for scholarship for the high achievers in science subjects.

“Overall, for the year 2022/23, a total of 205,000 students will be loaned Sh570 billion and 500 students will receive the Sh3 billion scholarship grant. More qualifications and criteria for the scholarship will be clarified by the ministry soon, but top performance would be key,” he said.

To get this scholarship, Prof Mkenda had it that a student must have excelled in science subjects through the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta) exams as well as apply to study science, engineering or medicine and be admitted to a university.

“This type of student will be sponsored regardless of whether the parents are able or not,” he said.

Prof Mkenda exuded that for the financial year 2021/22, the Higher Education Students Loans Board (Heslb) aimed to collect Sh182 billion, of which by June 30, 2022 a total of Sh183.8 billion had been collected.

“These collections are equivalent to 32.2 percent of the government’s budget for student loans in 2021/22. So, with this trend, work still needs to be done…,” he advised. In another step, the study courses of Kiswahili and Translation that were not in the group of priority subjects in the allocation of higher education loans, will officially be given priority from the 2022/23 academic year.

“In this year’s loans, those Form Six graduates who will be studying Kiswahili and Translation in University, will be placed in the first group of privileged studies (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) in the allocation of loans…,” he said.

“Our goal is to get more translators, people who will be able to speak Kiswahili and English fluently, Kiswahili and French fluently, Kiswahili and Chinese fluently so that we can go to the world and spread Kiswahili as our responsibility,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the launched manual, July 12 to 18, 2022 the guide will be officially posted on the website (www.heslb.go.tz) and (www.moe.go.tz) for applicants to read and understand.

July 19 to September 30, 2022, the online loan window will be open for 70 days to receive applications that way. July 20 to September 30, 2022 also the implementation of educational programs for loan applicants is expected to take place in 19 National Service camps through various platforms.