Kenya’s universities are sliding into crisis. Debts are piling up, lecturers are on strike and some campuses are barely managing to stay open.
The recent decision to slash student fees has given parents welcome relief, but it has left public institutions reeling. The quick fix of raising fees for government-sponsored students is not the answer. That move would make higher education a privilege for the few and shut out thousands of deserving young people.
The future lies in innovation, not endless complaints about shrinking capitation.
Kenya does not have to reinvent the wheel. South Africa’s top universities, for example, rely heavily on research partnerships and international students, making them competitive across the continent.
Countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom treat universities as engines of innovation, where faculty routinely raise funds through research projects, and alumni networks play a big role in sustaining institutions financially.
Closer to home, Uganda’s Makerere University has long shown that partnerships with industry and foreign agencies can help sustain teaching and research.
All this will require sharper management. Too many universities are weighed down by waste and poor governance. Vice chancellors should be visionary managers as well as academics, able to generate income while protecting the quality of learning and research.
Also, the government cannot walk away. If it chooses to lower fees, it must also step in with increased direct funding. Otherwise, the quality of education will collapse, staff will go unpaid, and institutions will sink deeper into debt.
Quote of the Day: “If a man does not work at necessary and good things, then he will work at unnecessary and stupid things.” —Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (‘Anna Karenina’, ‘War and Peace’) was born on September 9, 1828
