• Nyando MP Jared Okelo said it's disturbing that the lowest fees universities are now charging per year is a mind-boggling figure of Sh258,000.
• On May 3, President William Ruto unveiled a new university and TVETs funding model aimed at primarily benefiting students from extremely poor backgrounds.
Image: SCREENGRAB
MPs have called for the abandonment of the new university funding model where students are sponsored either through scholarships or bursaries.
They want the Education Ministry to revert to the previous capitation model where learners paid as little as Sh16,000 per year for degree courses.
Nyando MP Jared Okelo said it's disturbing that the lowest fees universities are now charging per year is a mind-boggling figure of Sh258,000.
"The highest for those students who are yet to pursue medical-related courses are meant to pay Sh450,000. If this is left unattended, I can assure you, less than 20 per cent of tour students are going to report to colleges," he said.
The lawmaker said under the scrapped capitation model of funding, there was a level of certainty that students would receive the funds but that has since been left at the discretion of the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and ministry officials.
"If we do not act as a House, I'm afraid we are going to lose so many brains that ought to have been plugged into classrooms that are going to be languishing out here. I do not want to see a situation where we register several suicide cases who cannot access university education," Okelo said.
President William Ruto unveiled the new university and TVETs funding model on May 3.
He said it was aimed at primarily benefiting students from extremely poor backgrounds.
He said universities and TVETS will no longer receive block funding in the form of capitation based on a Differentiated Unit Cost.
Under the model, learners from vulnerable and extremely needy families have equal opportunities at accessing university education, he said.
Needy students will receive government scholarships of up to 53 per cent and loans of up to 40 per cent.
"Parents will only pay 7 per cent of the total cost of their university education," Ruto said.
Those joining TVETs will receive government scholarships of up to 50 per cent and 30 per cent in loans. Their households will pay 20 per cent of the costs.
Okelo said the new model puts lots of students at a disadvantage as there are no set criteria on who qualifies for either scholarships or bursaries.
"This House has what it takes to rewind and bring back the capitation so that what we have been used to paying between Sh16,000 and Sh35,000 a year, that is affordable. The amounts of fundraisers that are being organised now by university students are mind-boggling."
Okelo's sentiments were echoed by Gilgil MP Martha Wangari who called for the new capitation model to be subjected to public participation.
Wangari said students who used to survive on Sh20,000 in high school are finding it hard to raise hundreds of thousands of shillings to be able to pursue university courses.
"Right now, they have quotations and invoices of Sh300,000, 400,000 for courses. This model needs better public participation and this House needs to lead that process," she said.
The MPs spoke on a day the HELB portal was experiencing a slowdown due to an upsurge of applicants ahead of the August 27 deadline.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula said he will commit the concerns to raised by MPs over the new funding model to the Education committee chaired by Julius Melly.