Students from rich families to pay more school fees.
Students from rich families to dig deeper into their pockets, this is according to the university funding board.
The University Funding board argued that by paying more fees, institutions will cut reliance on the treasury for funds.
This move will also affect government-sponsored students in private universities who receive at least Sh70,000 annually depending on the course they are pursuing irrespective of their background.
The government is expected to pay 80 percent of the cost of degrees per student under the current funding model, since the learners in public universities paying are paying about Sh28,000 annually.
The funding board, with the backing of the Treasury and university vice-chancellors, wants the allocations reviewed to reflect the students’ income status.
UFB stated,”This policy brief recommends a gradual introduction of targeted free tuition to shift the burden of higher education funding to only needy and bright students.”
“Evidence has shown that a number of households in Kenya, especially those in the middle and upper income quotients, may not require any financial support to put their children through university education,” UFB added.
University funding board stated that it needs a total of Sh20.1 billion to fully finance students who sat their KCSE exam last year and a further Sh30.68 billion will be required to pay for those expected to sit for their examinations next month.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Ukur Yatani urged the universities to review the State funding of the students, put a freeze on hiring and raise the fees paid by the privately sponsored students.
Yatani said,”Review university fees and charges paid by students…and the Differentiated Unit Cost criteria which is used to determine the funding allocated to universities.”
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