By 
The Higher Education Loans and Scholarships Board (HELSB) has reportedly awarded additional student loans to 110 first-year students at Mukuba University for the 2025/2026 academic year.
HELSB said it received 291 appeals for student loan consideration from applicants who were not awarded loans during the initial allocation in March.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Tuesday and made available to Zambia Monitor, HELSB Manager–Corporate Affairs, Chiselwa Kawanda, confirmed the development.
She said out of the appeals received, 265 applications were from science-based programmes, while 26 were from STEM programmes under Education—representing 91 percent and 9 percent respectively.
Read More: KCM, HELSB say 64 student loans awarded to outstanding scholars for 2025 scholarship year
“The geographic distribution of all first-year appeals reveals that a majority originated from rural areas, accounting for 152 appeals or 52 percent of the total. Urban regions contributed 127 appeals, representing 44 percent, while peri-urban areas had the fewest, with 12 appeals making up just 4 percent of the overall submissions,” Kawanda said.
She added that earlier this year, HELSB received 1,177 applications, out of which 610 students were initially awarded loans.
Kawanda said the additional awards now brought the total number of students supported for the 2025/2026 academic year to 720.
“HELSB advertised student loans for school leavers who completed Grade 12 in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and who hold acceptance letters from Mukuba University for the 2025/2026 academic year,” she said.
Kawanda further highlighted that HELSB was currently supporting 2,325 students at Mukuba University.
WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.
Comments