The university funding model was unveiled on May 3, 2024, with President William Ruto championing it as an equaliser in the education sector.
Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka on Sunday, August 25 warned that the opposition would mobilise nationwide demonstrations should the Kenya Kwanza government go ahead with implementing the new but contentious university funding model.
The university funding model was unveiled on May 3, 2024, with President William Ruto championing it as an equaliser in the education sector.
However, the Azimio la Umoja principal argued that the new model has corrupt tendencies, aside from it being overly complex and exclusionary towards lower-income families, in his view.
President William Ruto addressed graduands at the University of East Africa Baraton in Nandi County on August 18, 2024. /CYNTHIA MUGE
Kalonzo further criticized the government’s lack of public participation and engagement of educational stakeholders before rolling out the new system and lamented that the model had lacked prior consultation or pilot testing leaving many students disadvantaged and others unprepared.
“We will mobilize this country to say No! to this corrupt higher education funding model. We have the experience, the determination and the prayers to stand in the gap and refuse to allow this country to go back into dictatorship. Zakayo has failed the people of Kenya,” he said.
“We give notice to the government, which appears clueless about managing this essential sector, If the plan is to make university education a privilege only for the affluent, then the marginalized will rise to reclaim their rightful access.”
Kalonzo’s strong opposition to the new university funding model resonates with concerns raised across various sectors regarding the transparency and inclusivity of the new system.
“Education is in a crisis, and it is both impracticable and unfair. Even university administrations admit they were left out of the conversation,” he added.
“How many are ready to stand against this? The poor will rise and claim their position.”
The New Funding Model has received criticism from several stakeholders after several students expected to join their first year in different universities raised complaints about the implementation of the fund.
Nearly 10,000 aggrieved students have so far registered appeals through the Higher Education Financing (HEF) portal contesting the new university funding model.
The funding model places students in five bands using eight variables, including parents’ background, gender, course type, marginalization, disability, family size, and composition.
Read also: Revealed: How Much In Fees Each University Student Will Pay, Grouped In 5 Bands
President Ruto notably hosted students for a town hall meeting to explain the funding model. He lamented that the old funding was almost putting Kenya’s education at a point of no return because of the imbalanced distribution of funds.
“The new student-centred funding model has 5 bands. The banding did not start with this model. We started the banding in 1996.
“There has always been banding. I know there is a push that maybe this banding started with this model, but it did not, it has always been there. All we did, instead of having 4 bands we made it 5,” Ruto explained.
A collage of public universities in Kenya. /VIRAL TEA KE