Ruto forms 129-member committee to review university funding model

President William Ruto has appointed a National Committee comprising 129 members to review the recently introduced university funding model.

The decision follows growing concerns raised by students, parents, and other stakeholders about the current model, including categorising students into income bands without addressing accuracy and fairness. 

The appointment was made official in a gazette notice dated September 16.

"I, William Samoei Ruto, do order and direct that the National Working Committee on Review of the New University Education Funding Model is hereby established,” read the gazette.

According to the notice, the committee will be divided into four subcommittees. These include the Workstream on the Review and Refinement of the New Funding Model for Universities and Technical, Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TVETs) and the Workstream on Appeals Arising from the Categorisation of Students into Various Eligibility Bands for the Allocation of Scholarships and Loans.

Additionally, there will be a workstream on the structure of student loans and a workstream on the review of the cost of university academic programmes.

The chairpersons and co-chairpersons of these sub-committees will form a coordination board that will oversee the New University Education Funding Model. The board will be led by Prof. Japheth Micheni Ntiba.

Lead secretaries from each of the four sub-committees will serve as joint secretaries to the overall committee. Prof. Karuti Kanyinga and Dibora Zainab Hirbo will chair and co-chair the subcommittee on the funding model's review, while Walubengo Waningilo and Lucy Machugu will handle appeals related to student categorisation for scholarships and loans.

Students in Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD) clogged the streets with their school bags slung over their shoulders. Photo: Justine Ondieki

Robert Oduor Otieno and Aron Kiprotich Bett will lead the subcommittee on student loan structures, while Prof. Mohamed S. Rajab and Patrick Malanga will oversee the review of the cost of academic programmes at universities.

The committee will also appraise the implementation of the New Funding Model for KCSE 2022 and KCSE 2023 candidates who were placed in public and private universities and TVETS.

Additionally, they will evaluate the effectiveness of the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) in ensuring that the categorisation of students captures their socio-economic realities.

They will assess the effectiveness of the appeals mechanism in the resolution of student categorisation concerns and/or challenges in relation to the bands for access to scholarships and loans.

The committee will also establish the potential of the New Funding Model to steer the nation towards the sustainable funding of public universities and TVETs and analyse and make recommendations for the rationalisation of the cost of university programmes and mobilisation of the requisite resources for funding university education.

Further, they will review the structure of student loans with regard to the terms of the loans, including current interest rates, penalties and repayment periods, considering post-graduation employment and work prospects and incomes.

The committee is set to operate for a period of eight weeks, beginning September 16. Its secretariat will be housed at the Ministry of Education headquarters, Jogoo House.

The committee will report directly to President Ruto through the Cabinet Secretary for Education.