The Uganda Higher Education Students’ Financing Board (HESFB) is a fund that is intended to provide financing to Ugandan students who may have qualified for higher education in recognized institutions of higher learning but they are unable to support themselves financially to get admission. The 1995 Constitution provides for protection and promotion of fundamental human rights and freedoms particularly under Chapter 4. Article 30 provides that all persons have a right to education and this is expounded in the preamble to the Constitution which provides for the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy that directs the state to take appropriate measures to afford every Ugandan Citizen equal opportunities to attain the highest educational standard possible.

The essence of the Uganda Higher Education Students’ Financing Board is to support the sector policy objective of increasing access to quality education in view of the large number of brilliant but needy students who are not among the 4000 students sponsored by Uganda government and cannot raise fees for self sponsorship.The Ministry of Education and Sports through the Higher Education Students’ Financing Act, 2014 established the Board to implement the objects of the Act on its behalf which is in line with the education sector policy objective. The HESFB will initially offer loans to students pursuing both sciences and non sciences in local public and private chartered universities pursuing courses considered to be critical to national development and covering human capital gap. Over the following years the loans shall be extended in the ratio 3:2 Humanities to Science programmes. The programs to be awarded loans will be decided upon by the Board with the approval of the minister.
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