Kenya’s President William Ruto Tuesday announced a plan to fully finance university and college education, noting that no student should miss out on higher education because of their family’s financial situation.
Speaking at State House while receiving the report entitled “Developing a New Vision for Kenya: Towards a First World Nation,” Ruto said every student who qualifies for university and college education will receive full government funding under proposed reforms to the higher education financing model.
The proposal marks a major policy shift after years of complaints from universities over inadequate government funding and concerns from students who struggled to raise tuition despite qualifying for admission.
“Going forward, any student who has passed and is placed in a college or university, each of them will get full funding for their education,” the president said.
Ruto said the government had then introduced what it considered a more equitable approach, where parents would contribute according to their ability, but it has now resolved to move to a universal model.
“We have worked on what we thought was equity, where parents would pay. Now we are moving to universal under the amendments we have taken to Parliament,” he said.
Ruto acknowledged that previous funding models had failed to achieve their objectives, leaving universities under severe financial strain.
“We tried the differentiated model. I think the vice chancellors here know it didn’t work because it made most of our universities almost close down. Because while we promised 80% funding, we went down to 40 percent, and most universities suffered,” he said.
He said the government later introduced a funding structure combining parental contributions, student loans and scholarships in an effort to promote equity, but many deserving students still faced financial barriers.
The President said parents who wish to contribute towards their children’s education would remain free to do so, but financial hardship would no longer prevent students from accessing higher education.
MG/as/APA