Ruto appoints committee to review new university funding model

President Ruto during the Town Hall meeting at Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

President William Ruto has appointed a team that will lead the review of the new university funding model that has faced opposition from a section of the public.

In a gazette notice, President Ruto stated the the team will be divided into four sub committees that shall be tasked with different roles including the review of the new funding model for universities and Technical, Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TVETs).

It will also have a team that will focus on appeals arising from the categorisation of students into various eligibility bands for allocation of scholarships and loans.

The team will further look into the structure of students' loans while examining cost of university academic programmes in a move that could lead to reduction of tuition fees

“Now therefore, I William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, in exercise of the powers conferred upon me by the Constitution and the Statute Laws of the Republic of Kenya do order and direct that the National Working Committee on Review of the New University Education Funding Model is hereby established,” he said.

The team will comprise 129 members tasked to review the new university funding model following complaints raised by several stakeholders including parents and students regarding the new model.

Sub-committees chairpersons and co-chairpersons will form the coordination Board of the Committee for the New University Education Funding Model, which will be chaired by Prof Japheth Micheni Ntiba with lead secretaries from the four sub-committees serving as joint secretaries to the committee.

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The workstream on the Review and Refinement of the New Funding Model for Universities and Technical, Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TVETs) will be chaired by Prof Karuti Kanyinga and co-chaired by Dibora Zainab Hirbo.

The workstream on Appeals arising from the categorisation of students into various eligibility bands for the allocation of scholarships and loans will be chaired by Walubengo Waningilo and co-chaired by Lucy Machugu.

The workstream on Structure of Student Loans will be chaired by Robert Oduor Otieno and co-chaired by Aron Kiprotich Bett while workstream on the Review of the Cost of University Academic Programmes will be chaired by Prof Mohamed S. Rajab and co-chaired by Patrick Malanga.

The National Committee will serve for a period of eight weeks with effect from September 16. The secretariat of the committee as well as its workstreams will be located at the Ministry of Education Headquarters at Jogoo House.

The committee will report to and be accountable to the President through the Education Cabinet Secretary.

President Ruto has in the past defended the new university funding model, emphasizing its consideration for students’ varying levels of vulnerability despite being heavily opposed by university students.

The Head of State maintained that the country needs a new funding model that focuses on the student needs and not the university.

“I am persuaded now that we need a funding model that is not focused on the university but focused on the student. A funding model that will not leave any child in Kenya behind but a funding model that recognises that there are children that come from vulnerable families,” he said.

The new university funding model provides funding to students through scholarships and loans. Students are placed in one of the five bands created to reflect their level of need.However, the model has faced major opposition for what critics say is wrong classification of the students. Last week, a section of university student leaders staged protest over the funding model.

In the gazette notice, President Ruto acknowledged the growing discontent over the gaps in the new funding model.

"There is increasing concern about the effectiveness of the Means Testing Instrument in terms of inconsistency in costing methodologies for university programmes, which calls for a unified approach to foster trust and ensure fairness,” the gazette notice reads.