The Government has, in the last two years, doubled funding to local universities to the tune of over Sh82 billion budgeted through the new funding model known as the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC), Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Migos Ogamba has said.
Ogamba said the new funding model, which prioritises a student-centred funding mechanism, was meant to ensure that no needy student misses out on higher education.
He said the model has seen additional funding flow to these institutions of higher learning with a view to easing access to education for an increased number of students who have been enrolled in local public and private tertiary institutions.
Though the implementation of the new funding model has been suspended to allow for a pending court of appeal case, the Government is banking on a positive resolution by the courts to address the teething issues facing the education sector, including mounting debts.
A petition on the constitutionality of the new funding model was filed in October 2023 by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Elimu Bora Working Group, Boaz Waruku, and Students’ Caucus.
The groups challenged the university funding model, claiming it was unconstitutional, discriminatory and lacking public participation.
The petitioners argued that the model shifted the financial burden from the Government to struggling parents, adding that the categorisation of students based on financial ability was discriminatory and that its entire implementation lacked clarity.
Presiding Judge Justice Chacha Mwita, sitting in Nairobi, who had in December last year issued temporary orders stopping the implementation of the model, on Monday this week issued orders stopping any further implementation of the model.
But the Government has since appealed against the order that declared the funding model as unconstitutional, citing violations of students’ rights and lack of adequate public participation before its implementation.
“The new funding model introduces a specific allocation of higher education resources without a proper statute, creating a funding mechanism that is in direct conflict with the law. The model, as it stands, is not anchored in any law. Its composition and its procedure remain unknown,” Justice Mwita stated.
CS Ogamba said the Government required Sh45.85 billion to finance the education of 246,391 students who completed their secondary education last year and who will be joining tertiary institutions starting the 2025/26 financial year. It’s the largest number ever who qualified to join university by scoring the aggregate of C+ (plus) and above.
The remarks were contained in a speech read on his behalf by Principal Secretary (PS) in the State Department for Higher Education and Research in the Ministry of Education Dr. Beatrice Muganda Inyangala during the second Biennial Conference on the financing of universities in Naivasha on Wednesday. This year’s theme is, “Navigating the New Era of Higher Education Financing in Kenya”.
The conference is aimed at coming up with measures to streamline the financing of the higher education institutions in Kenya.
The CS said the burden facing the education sector is how to adequately fund the said 246,391 candidates of the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Examination who qualified to join university so that no needy student misses out on the university education.
He noted that to complete their entire four-year education, over Sh100 billion would be required to finance them, adding that there’s a need to provide necessary interventions on how such a financially driven initiative will be realised.
“About 45,258 more candidates scored C+ (plus) and above compared with the 2023 KCSE cohort. We therefore must together explore mechanisms of ensuring that all the qualifiers are admitted, funded and settled in our various universities as we have done previously, especially given the ever-dwindling Government resource envelope and considering that the lion’s share of our country’s total annual budget is spent on education,” Ogamba stated.
But in the same breath, PS Ogamba assured the students, their guardians and parents that the Ministry is holding all the necessary consultations within the government before advising on the opening of the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) portal for the 2024 KCSE candidates to start selecting their preferred courses of study in colleges and universities.
“All students, parents and guardians should remain assured that they will be admitted to universities and colleges of their choice in line with the set deadlines of respective institutions,” he reassured.
He beseeched all the stakeholders in the education sector to work together to define the optimal number of qualifiers that the Government can afford to financially support and allow the rest of the students who can afford to seek alternative funding and loans for their programmes.
Ogamba advised the stakeholders at the conference to examine various funding options and explore both their short-term and long-term effects on university finances, student access, and academic quality.
“I urge participants to explore innovative financing strategies that can complement government funding, including the generation of alternative funding sources such as public-private partnerships, endowments, and alumni contributions, all of which hold great potential to provide sustainable financial support for our institutions,” he advised.
The CS further urged them to focus on equity and inclusion by discussing ways to ensure equitable access to higher education, particularly for marginalized groups and students from disadvantaged backgrounds and create a system that not only provides opportunities for all but also fosters an environment where every student has the support they need to succeed.
On a positive note, the CS noted that when he took over the reins of the Education Ministry hardly a year ago, the public universities were reeling under excruciatingly high debts amounting to more than Sh60.6 billion. These debts eventually grew to Sh75 billion, a figure that started falling thanks to the introduction of the Student-Centred Model and currently, the pending bills stand at Sh72 billion.
He said that through the recommendations of the first conference held two years ago, mechanisms have been put in place to explore alternative revenue streams for universities. These include the development of university endowments, expanding professional courses, and fostering public-private partnerships to reduce dependency on government funding.
The University Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Geoffrey Monari has raised fears that the suspension of the new funding model risks raising universities public debts as court cases drag on.
Monari said the new legal challenge at the court of appeal has left uncertainty in lowering mounting debts, which had crippled universities for years.
Monari now says the only solution to addressing and reducing increased debts is to allow the implementation of the new model, which unburdens universities’ financial support to students.
The CEO said they have suspended the disbursement of funds through the new model pending the determination of the court of appeal case but will continue to support enrolled cohorts affected by the case.
“We urge students affected by the suspension of implementation of new funding by the courts to practice patience as the government puts in measures that will ensure that they pursue their studies,” said Monari.
On the new model, the CEO said the move has also rendered independence to universities to commercialise their research and generate their source of revenue, which has reduced pressure and reliance on the exchequer.
This approach, launched in May 2023, replaced the previous block funding system for universities, focusing instead on direct support to students through scholarships, loans, and household contributions.
The model categorised students into five bands, determined by household income and financial need, including Band One, comprising extremely needy and vulnerable students, where they will receive a 70 per cent government scholarship.
In band two, comprising low-income students, the government will provide 60 per cent scholarships, while in band three, from modest-income households, 50 per cent, middle-income families get a government scholarship of 40 per cent, and high-income families 20 percent.
The allocation to each band is determined using the Means Testing Instrument (MTI), which assesses factors such as household income, geographic location, poverty levels, number of dependents, and special circumstances like disabilities. This was meant to ensure that financial aid is distributed equitably based on actual need.
Around 563,000 students were enrolled in the 32 universities in Kenya during the academic year 2022/23. The number increased from roughly 562,100 enrolled in universities in Kenya as of the beginning of the 2021 /22 academic year. Public universities rely largely on government subsidies to run their operations.
By Mabel Keya – Shikuku and Erastus Gichohi
