Varsity students call for adequate funding of institutions

University students now want the government to fully implement the Differentiated Unit Cost model of funding.

Technical University of Kenya student leaders decried the burden of inadequate funding falling on students.

Students Association of TUK Chair Kirera Muchoki on Wednesday said the debate on varsities funding is a worry to the students.

"We do have a part to play as students and the universities but at the end of the day the government bears the mantle at the helm of it all," he said.

Muchoki said the DUC model is a demonstration that the state, students and institutions can all work together to achieve adequacy.

In the DUC, the government is expected to fund 80 per cent, while the remaining 20 per cent is to be generated internally by universities.

Muchoki and the other leaders urged the government to raise the percentage of funds allocated to universities for funding.

"We have proposed to the government to take DUC as an investment opportunity that would bear substantial fruit in the future," he said.

The cries by university students come even as stakeholders propose a quarterly review of tuition fees.

According to data acquired from the funding agency, the accumulated debt includes remittances, part-time lecturers, Sacco and contractors, among others.

The universities owe contractors Sh1.4 billion, part-time lecturers Sh4.5 billion, suppliers Sh4.8 billion and Sacco contributions Sh4.1 billion.

NSSF is owed Sh139 million, at NHIF there are Sh2 million, loan deductions worth Sh1.3 billion, pension schemes Sh18 billion and PAYE owed is Sh13 billion, while other loans have accumulated Sh10 billion.