Ruto appoints committee to review university funding model

President William Ruto. [Michael Mute, Standard]

President William Ruto has appointed a national committee to review the new university funding model. The committee has been given eight weeks to complete its review.

In a gazette notice on Monday, September 16, Ruto outlined that the committee will operate through four workstreams.

The chairperson and co-chair of each workstream will form the committee's coordination board.

Professor Japheth Micheni Ntiba will lead the committee as its chairperson. The first workstream will be chaired by Karuti Kanyinga, with Dibora Hirbo serving as co-chair.

 This group will focus on reviewing and refining the new funding model for universities and technical and vocational education and training institutions.

The second workstream will handle appeals related to student categorisation for scholarships and loans. Walubengo Waningilo will chair this workstream, with Lucy Machugu as co-chair.

Robert Otieno and Aron Bett will lead the third workstream, tasked with reviewing the structure of student loans.

The fourth workstream, chaired by Professor Mohamed Rajab and co-chaired by Patrick Malanga, will assess the cost of university programmes.

Each workstream will include additional members, joint secretaries, and a secretariat. The group will evaluate the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) to ensure it accurately reflects students' socio-economic realities.

They will also review the effectiveness of the appeals process for student categorisation in accessing scholarships and loans.

The committee will report to the President through the Cabinet Secretary for Education.

 The review follows confusion over the new funding model, which categorises students into five funding bands.