Vice-Chancellors throw weight behind new university funding model

Vice-chancellors of universities in the country have defended the new university education funding model, referring to it as timely.

Led by Prof. Daniel Mugendi who is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Embu and the Chairman, of the Vice-Chancellor's Committee of Public Universities in Kenya, they said the new model has saved the institutions that have been grappling with massive financial challenges from collapsing.

Mugendi rose to speak at the request of President William Ruto who had been faced with questions on the viability of the new model and whether it is sustainable.

"The old model was killing our universities and I stand here on behalf of all the universities because I am the chairperson of all vice-chancellors. The round one of this model that was done last year has been able to get many of the universities out of the pit," said Mugendi.

According the Mugendi, many universities would have been insolvent if the new model could still be in place.

"As of now we're in the positive and it is only one round. In the old model, we were not able to pay salaries and therefore we owed the lecturers and staff members arrears of up to two years," said Mugendi.

According to him, the universities have successfully been able to pay all arrears owed to lecturers and non-teaching staff in May and June this year because of the new model.

"It's a model we would be able to support because we could be able to draw a line and tell you when all the universities would be technically insolvent in this country, but now there is a turnaround and we will be able to get out of there," said Mugendi.

He was backing Ruto's broad explanation that the new model has helped universities from collapsing following huge debts that choked their management.

Ruto explained the old model was founded on the wrong premise that the government had 80 per cent of the money to pay for everybody who was getting university education irrespective of the courses they pursued.