- Led by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, Parliament wants the different bursary schemes merged to attain what they believe would be free college and university education in the country.
- MPs insisted that the different schemes collapsed into one would be enough to make university education free in the country.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto will on Sunday evening engage in a town hall meeting to discuss issues on the University education funding model.
The President will engage with Kenyans at Kenyatta Convention Centre at 7 pm.
"President William Ruto to host a town hall tonight, engaging university students on the Higher Education Funding Model," State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed said in a statement on X.
Led by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, Parliament wants the different bursary schemes merged to attain what they believe would be free college and university education in the country.
MPs insisted that the different schemes collapsed into one would be enough to make university education free in the country.
They were speaking during an open forum or Kamkunji, called to debate the new university funding model amid complaints about some students being placed in the wrong bands, thus threatening their dreams of pursuing higher education.
State Department for Higher Education and Research PS Beatrice Inyangala admitted that there has been a mix-up when some universities were communicating the banding results to students but said there’s an avenue for them to appeal.
“Students should verify the loan and scholarship awards on the Higher Education Fund portal through www.hef.co.ke,” Inyangala said, adding that there are desks at universities where learners with complaints will be able to have wrong placement rectified.
Wetang’ula directed the PS to take to the House a policy proposal to inform a new law that would ensure all the schemes are collapsed to provide free university education.
Under the new university education funding model, learners from needy families have been put in Band 1 and accorded higher loans and scholarships compared to those in Band 5.
The Ministry of Education said it used the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) to determine the appropriate financial assistance each learner deserves based on self-generated information on their family background including monthly income.
The learner in Band 1 is entitled to 95 per cent government support in terms of scholarships (70 per cent) and loans (25 per cent) plus Sh60,000 upkeep loan.
Parents will contribute only 5 per cent to the cost of the education.
Comparatively, a learner in Band 5 will receive 60 per cent government support for whatever course they will be studying comprising 30 per cent scholarship, 30 per cent loan plus an upkeep loan of Sh40,000.
The family will foot 40 per cent of the total cost of their education.