Government promises resolution to Higher Education Funding issues

By Robert Mutasi

President William Ruto exuded confidence that the government would find a lasting solution to the crises facing the New Higher Education Funding Model.

Speaking at the Tangaza University graduation ceremony in Nairobi on Friday, November 15, 2024, Ruto said the model introduced recently to address the university students' financial needs had been riddled with fault-finding and operational challenges that had cast aspersions on the possibility of students securing funding for their studies.

During the speech, President Ruto acknowledged the growing controversy over the new funding model coined to strike a balance in the financial resource allocation for students from different walks of life.

"I am confident that issues relating to the model will soon be ironed out and that students will have access to this support for the pursuit of their studies uninterruptedly," he said again, the government was committed to ensuring that higher education became more accessible and affordable for Kenyans.

The New Higher Education Funding Model was initiated to transform Kenya's education financing system from one that was purely grant-based to a combination of grants and loans.

While the model assesses students on their financial need and academic merit, this funding is intended to cover tuition fees and other university-related costs.

This model has received both skeptics and supporters as the students and institutions are adjusting to changes in funding methods.

Complaints of delays in disbursement, complicated application procedures, and breakdowns in communication between the government and universities have risen.

Many students said they experienced frustrations in accessing funds that they were promised, which disrupted their studies in many cases.

Student groups and university administrators have urged the government to address these issues promptly to avoid compromising academic progress among those affected.

The President assured the graduating class and visitors at Tangaza University that the government was working to make the model coherent and resolve these operational hitches.

He cited initiatives at the Ministry of Education towards making the application procedure less cumbersome, with increased accountability of the disbursed amounts.

Ruto also underscored that Kenya's education funding models must be revised toward complying with international standards for the model to be effective and become sustainable.

The audience, a lot of whom had directly been affected by the challenges with funding, applauded his remarks.

He believed in this model as the future transforming force for Kenya's education system: "We are building a system that will benefit not only this generation but also the future one. We are investing in students for the future of Kenya."

Indeed, the new Higher Education Funding Model has brought a national conversation on the best way to fund education in Kenya, including public-private partnerships, policy reforms, and student loans.

With students around the country awaiting real change in the funding process, the assurance by President Ruto is a good pointer to higher education being more accessible and friendly to the students.