Streamline operations in the Education Ministry

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migosi when he took an oath of office at State House Nairobi. [PCS]

Students set to join universities this year have until Thursday to apply for funding amid the confusion surrounding the whole exercise. Fee chargeable shocked many, and the resultant public outcry caused the government to clarify the amounts as an error.

Indeed, President William Ruto has asked public universities to recall all the admission letters they had sent out. This points to a disconnect between university management and the government over the new funding model that replaced the Higher Education Loans Board. The new funding model has five levels of loans based on household income.

Level one covers households whose income is below Sh5995, level 2 between Sh5995 and Sh23670, level 3 between Sh23671 and Sh70000, level 4 between Sh70000 and 119999 while level 5 is for those whose income is above Sh120000.

Did universities seek to raise as much money from students for operational costs by being vague about how much a student is supposed to pay based on the Needs Assessment Tools model?

While universities wallow under a Sh75 billion debt in pending bills, former Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu told the National Assembly Education Committee last year that the government owed universities a whooping Sh147 billion. To expect universities to operate optimally under such financial strains is to expect too much.

This lackadaisical attitude by the government, which has also failed to remit capitation to primary and secondary schools in good time jeopardises our education. Already, teacher unions have threatened to down tools ahead of the third term opening.

Ministry of education operations must be streamlined to enable schools, from the basic level of learning to the apex of education to function smoothly. We cannot hope to make great strides developmentally when education is denied to the largely poor populace that needs it as an equaliser to succeed in life.