• Ndegwa said the Sh2 billion that would have gone to students from financially able families, will be pushed to scholarship for learners in band one.
• Ndegwa said the old model, which was based on differentiated unit cost (DUC), was very expensive for the government.
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More than 20,000 university students did not apply for the Higher Education Financing, which left the government with an extra Sh2 billion to cater to the most vulnerable learners.
Dr Kingori Ndegwa, head of lending at Higher Education Loans Board, said unlike the old university model, which financed all students regardless of their families financial background, the new model is student-centered and targets to benefit the needy.
He said the Sh2 billion that would have gone to students from financially able families, will be pushed to scholarship for learners in band one, who are required to pay only five per cent of their programme cost.
Ndegwa spoke at Mt Kenya University Campus during a town hall meeting that attracted East Africa university students leaders, parents, students and other stakeholders.
The meeting was aired live by Radio Jambo through Radio Africa Events.
Ndegwa said the old model, which was based on differentiated unit cost (DUC), was very expensive for the government.
“The model, which was established in the early 1990s, was meant to have the government pay 80 per cent of the learners course expenses, while the remaining 20 per cent was to be catered for through Helb loans or financed by parents,” he said.
Ndegwa said the system faltered from initiation because the government only managed to finance 68 per cent of the differentiated unit cost in its first year of operation.
“By 2022, the government only managed to pay 38 per cent of the DUC, a situation that has caused operational paralysis in many universities due to pending bills amounting to more than Sh61 billion, while others shut down,” he said.
Ndegwa said according to projections, the old model would be at 32 per cent funding by now and eventually collapse in two to three years.
“When the current government came into power, the President appointed a task force to evaluate the education system, which found it prudent to use the new funding model to universities and students,” he said.
Ndegwa said under the previous model, where universities were given a block amount to cater to all learners, the institutions were struggling and churning out half-baked graduates due to lack of equipment and infrastructure.
“The situation was dire, students were not even going for education trips, which is a requirement in the studies, lecturers were not supervising learners on attachment due to financial constraints,” he said.
Ndegwa said the higher education system was going to get worse, especially for the technical courses that require a lot of materials and equipment.
He said it is unfair to band all students together regardless of the family backgrounds because through DUC, the most vulnerable were either deferring studies or dropping out of school.
“In the old model, what the government did not cover through its funding was supposed to be covered by parents, this caused many problems such as deferment, missing exams and dropping out,” Ndegwa said.
He said on the other hand, universities infrastructure was dilapidated due to scarcity of financing.
Mt Kenya University Nakuru Campus director Jacqueline Omuya said under the new university funding model, learners from needy families will have a chance of finishing education.
“There is a need for civic education about the new model, many of those who are opposing it will understand and embrace it because it is going to benefit many needy families,” she said.
Omuya urged those opposed to the new model to study and understand the new higher education financing system, adding that said the new model only required minimal modification.