Lack of details in admission letters cost hundreds of qualified students admission to universities in 2023, MPs have said.
The National Assembly Committee on Education wants more details- namely what parents must pay- in admission letters before they report in September.
Committee chairman Julius Melly said the Ministry of Education changed the funding model for universities in 2023 and by the time students reported, many had not understood what the changes meant.
According to the new funding model, a student would receive scholarships, bursaries and loans from the government, depending on their need, after categorisation. Then they would pay a percentage of their total fees.
Melly said in 2023, students reported for admission without knowing how much the government was going to pay in scholarships. “The learners also reported without knowing which ‘need band’ they had been categorised in, without knowing how much their parents were contributing in fees,” he said.
Melly said some parents saw “intimidating figures” on the admission letters and decided not to send talented students to university.
“When a learner is given a fee structure of Sh300,000, the child is told to stay home because the parent doesn’t know the family will pay far less,” he said.
“We will table a proposal that Helb and the university department has to make sure the student knows the band they fall in before they report to their institutions.”
“Come September, universities should send fee structures having ‘banded’ that student and quoting only the fees the parent is supposed to pay.”
“If the parent sees they are supposed to pay Sh10,000 and the government has paid Sh200,000, they will send the student to school.”
Melly said the committee’s work goes beyond tabling reports in Parliament and they have visited universities to investigate the effectiveness of the policies.
“One of the reasons we should not sit here and write desktop reports is because you might think that everything is okay, but when you go out there, you meet the real issues,” he said.
In the past week, MPs toured several public universities in Central and Western to inspect implementation of projects funded in 2023-24.
The committee was split into two teams. Melly led the Central delegation, while committee deputy chairperson Malulu Injendi led the team that toured Western.
In Central, the MPs visited Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, Murang’a University of Technology and Karatina University.
“We found some universities are being run very well. Murang’a University was very commendable. Some universities were in a sorry state with stalled projects,” Melly said.
They also visited Meru, Chuka and Tharaka universities.
The Western delegation is scheduled to visit the Eldoret, Maseno, Koitaleel arap Samoei, Rongo and Kisii universities.
MPs asked about problems implementing the projects.
Melly said the visits were necessary to inform the committee of the need for further deliberations with the ministry and the State Department for Higher Education about funding of stalled projects.
“This is very important because we have been able to physically inspect the construction works,” he said.
University management also shared data on student admission, as well as problems they faced with fee payment under the new funding model.
Melly said the committee will table a report to help guide guide the Ministry of Education when making university policies.