- The model was launched in May 2023
- The model sees HELB scrapped
Image: George Murage
The New Funding Model targeting students in universities and TVETs is generating more heat with students rejecting it.
Despite the government pumping over Sh24 billion in the model since its launch last year, student leaders have termed it as an overburden to poor families.
The student leaders said they were not involved in the initial process, adding that the system would end up enslaving them through loans.
This emerged during the evaluation of the new model at Lake Naivasha Resort between the Department of Higher Education and student representatives across the country.
The Secretary Administration in the department Fredrick Ndambuki said the model was designed to align funding to the needs of individual students rather than institutions.
Addressing the students, he said under the revised model, students were categorised into five bands based on household income levels.
“To date, 110,223 university applications have been verified and allocated Sh11.74 billion in scholarships and Sh12.47 billion in loans,” he said.
He however decried the low transition rate from secondary schools to universities which stood at 80 per cent, adding that the government was keen to address this.
“A total of 153,274 students have been placed in various degree programmes in universities, accounting for 76.2 per cent of the 201,146 students who qualified,” he said.
The CEO Universities Fund Geoffrey Monari defended the new model saying it was a transformative step towards a more equitable and effective education funding system.
“We have heard the complaints from the students over this model like the loans been high and we shall definitely look into their concerns,” he said.
However, Pwani University leader Omar Makokha called for the withdrawal of the model as students had not been involved in the initial stages of its formulation.
Flanked by fellow student leaders, he termed the evaluation exercise as a PR gimmick, adding that the new model would overburden parents and students.
“This model has been forced on students by the state and we shall reject it as it is enslaving us with loans which we don’t know how we shall pay,” he said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Zipporah Wacera from Karatina University who noted that tuition fees had been increased at the expense of poor students who were forced to rely on loans.
“This new model is not working and is instead frustrating students in both universities and TVETs by overburdening them with huge loans without any option,” she said.