Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology has said the delay by the government to release capitation for first year students is hurting its operations.
Vice chancellor Prof Solomon Shibairo said they had factored the newcomers capitation in their budget and they have now been forced to adjust the budget to accommodate the freshers.
“We have embraced technology to minimise on the number of staff. We are cutting on the number of staff through natural attrition. For example, when three staff members retire, we replace one,” he said during a media breakfast at the main campus on Wednesday.
“We have had to talk to our part-timers whom we have paid very little and we shall pay them when the money is received,” he said.
The VC said the university has been forced to stagger some of its development programmes to avoid a financial crisis.
Deputy vice chancellor planning research and innovation Prof Charles Mutai and deputy vice chancellor, academic and student affairs Prof Hussein Golicha accompanied the VC.
Shibairo said the college is also facing accommodation challenges.
He said the university can only accommodate 2,800 students on campus, with another 20,000 living outside the institution.
Shibairo said the university has formed an association with students, and landlords on issues of accommodation to ensure safety of the students residing outside the institution.
“We have agreed on the minimum standards for accommodation of our students. Some of the conditions include ensuring that landlords provide clean water and electricity besides ensuring adequate security,” he said.
He said the university has secured land for 10,000 affordable housing project for students to address the accommodation problem.
He said that the project will be implemented in two phases of 5,000 units each.
The VC said the university has secured a deal with investors from Dubai dealing with modelling and offsite construction to build a student centre worth Sh1 billion to address the shortage of housing.
Meanwhile, the university has come up with a strategy to allow all final year students to graduate with or without fee balances.
This is a break from the zero-balance tradition by all universities where students with fee balances miss out on graduation until they clear the outstanding balances.
Shibairo said the move will allow students to graduate with fee balances but will have to clear the fee later before they are given their certificates.
“It will be much better if a student graduates because it is easy for them to secure jobs in the market industry and this will allow them to get money without being disrupted while studying and this will reduce the backlog and save students from staying longer in school,” he said.
Shibairo said the council decided to climb down from the zero-balance platform due to prevailing harsh economic times, adding that it will apply starting with the upcoming graduation on December 1.
The university has already extended the clearance period by one week to allow all students to graduate as directed by the university council.
Students have welcomed the decision by the university council terming it as the best move ever in ensuring quality education is for all.
Dennis Wanguche, a bachelor of education student welcomed the move, saying he was to graduate in 2018 after missing out on the graduation list due to a fee balance of Sh180,000.
“The decision is long overdue because I have about three colleagues who finished their studies and were cleared of everything apart from school fees but due to the struggle they gave up,” Wanguche said.
“I have managed to raise the fee balance, and finish the units I had not completed and I am only waiting to graduate in December. Life has not been easy because I have missed out on a lot of job opportunities due to lack of a certificate. With this decision, it will be better for most students to work as they clear the balance before they can collect their documents.”