Businessmen who invested heavily in students’ hostels and those that have leased out their premises to universities for satellite campuses are facing a bleak future.
The uncertainty was caused by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i's announcement that public universities will directly absorb all Form Four leavers who scored a mean grade of C+ and above in last year's KCSE examinations.
Traders who spoke to The Standard said they feared the move would drive them out of business.
“That will definitely affect us in future because we have turned our residential houses into students' hostels,” said David Wakibia, a landlord at Ngei Estate in Nakuru County.
Mr Wakibia is one of the landlords who took advantage of numerous satellite campuses that were opened in Nakuru town to offer parallel degree programmes for thousands of students who missed university entry points.
He converted his three-storey building into a student’s hostel that houses more than 600 students.
“Before I converted the two-bedroom houses into hostels, I use to get Sh15,000 from each per month. But Since 2013, each two bedroom house host six students each paying Sh8,000 a month. It is good business,” he said.
According to statistic collected from Rent Tribunal in Nakuru town, more than 59 residential houses in Nakuru town alone have been converted into hostels in the past four years.
Dr Matiangi's decision will not only affect landlords in Nakuru but also private universities that have been offering parallel programmes and lecturers in the long run.
According to Ernest Wayaya, a Kenya Universities Staff Union official, a large number of lecturers will lose their jobs. “No university will hire lecturers if there are no students,” he said.
Mr Wayaya added that some courses like accounts, integrated information management system and some arts courses would be rendered obsolete.
