Universities seek to triple fees, lay off staff next year

The push by public universities to have fees paid by students tripled will in January be fronted to President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Cabinet for consideration.

The proposal among others was on Wednesday laid before the National Assembly Education Committee. It seeks to find a remedy for the dwindling financial health of public universities.

Vice chancellors want fees increased from Sh16,000 to 48,000.

MPs, university bosses, Higher Education Loans Board, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Agency, the Education Ministry and the Treasury counterparts met in Nairobi on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

The meeting sought to address the funding gap facing public universities.

The proposal has gradually gained momentum since it was first raised by university bosses and is being touted as the panacea for the financial crunch facing the institutions.

Upon approval, students who will sit their 2020 KCSE exams scheduled for July next year and qualify for university placement under government sponsorship will be the first lot to pay the hiked fees.

 Vice-Chancellors committee chaired by Geoffrey Muluvi says students who will be unable to raise the fees can turn to bursaries for a bailout.

To address the issue, Helb CEO Charles Ringera said an increase in fees will mean an increase in the amount the loans board will advance to the students.

“Helb will need another Sh14 billion for the increase in terms of school fees,” Ringera said.

He said the board had already been hit by the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic pushing the average amount offered to students for loans from about Sh45,000 to Sh37,000.

Helb estimates show that for a student to be comfortable they need an annual budget of about Sh200,000

“Given that Helb provides about Sh37,000 currently then it means the students or the household has to raise another Sh162,000,” Ringera said.

In its documentation, the Treasury says it has noted with concern that universities have not been remitting statutory deductions.

Currently, the deductions defaulted stand at Sh32 billion and include tax deductions to the KRA, pension and insurance schemes.

National Treasury PS Julius Muia in his presentation noted that increased student enrolment has seen a shrink in the loans and capitation available for students.

To correct this, the PS noted the need for universities to downsize with keen detail on the huge number of non-teaching staff.

“As we sit, we have received a request from Egerton University where they are asking for Sh1.5 billion to do retrenchment,” Muia said on Tuesday.

He also said universities are struggling to implement pay deals agreed with unions leading to increased debts.

But he cautioned the institutions against sitting pretty with the dwindling of funding support provided to them.

The PS said the situation was not unique to Kenya but across the world and that universities need to get off their comfort zones and look for creative ways to bridge the gap.

“Here is where I would be looking at the universities because they are the ones to give us ideas of what we are supposed to do,” Muia said.

Helb has also sought intervention to allow students to get laptop loans to assist in e-learning.

The plan is to provide the 2019 candidates who qualified for university placement and admitted into universities get the devices.

This would need at least Sh2.5 billion.

Also fronted is the proposal for universities to receive a waiver on pending bills that have left the them with huge debts.

Higher Education PS Simon Nabukwesi proposes that universities narrow down on the courses they are offering and put focus on particular programmes.

This means, courses outside the university area of focus will not be receiving students and largely would be operating as self-sponsored programmes.

“We need our universities to go back in that direction just like it used to be back then… even funding will be a lot easier knowing this kind of student is in this institution,” Florence Mutua said.

The Busia Woman Representative chairs the National Assembly's Education Committee.

“Universities should be classified such as Universities of Science and Technology, Research Universities, Sports and Creative Arts Universities, and General Programme Universities,” Nabukwesi said.

Also fronted for reform is the need for a central data management system like NEMIS has done in Primary and Secondary schools.

Currently, there is no centralised data for universities. The data management system is expected to create public access to information, public accountability and transparency, self-improvement and performance-based funding.

 “The figures sometimes given to the university funding board differ from those issued to Helb and differ from those given to the directorate of university education,” Nabukwesi said.

Muluvi on Tuesday asked the state to consider formation of a special fund to propel infrastructure development in universities.

On newly established public universities, the VCs are seeking that they be allocated Sh300 million annually for five years to bring them at par with established counterparts.

The VCs also want the funding model fully operationalised. Muluvi says the implementation has been partial thus putting the institutions through the same financial strain they evaded when the model was adopted.

A request that the government supports those admitted for diploma and postgraduate programmes in universities has also been made.

Professor Kisau Mumo of private universities said the number of students sponsored by the government to private universities has been increasing but the budget to cater for the growth has remained stagnant.

Currently, there are slightly over 61,000 state-sponsored students in private universities since the first intake in 2016.

Mumo said the institutions need at least Sh5.6 billion to support the students.

“Money to support the students has not increased although the number of students has increased,” he said.

“These students have benefitted, they’ve benefitted from private-public partnership where these private partners have developed infrastructure, they have supported the students, but now it is important and they are supported,” Mumo said.