The new varsity funding model seeks to make higher education more accessible and free universities from the financial challenges they have faced, the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Education Ezekiel Machogu has said.
Machogu said the old funding model made universities to incur a pending bill of up to Ksh70.7 billion.
He said the government had disbursed Ksh5.2 billion in loans to first year students, saying it demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that the New Funding Model is implemented without hitches.
“The ministry will do all it can to ensure that the scholarship kitty of the New Funding Model is disbursed in time to allow universities to run their programmes smoothly,” Machogu said.
He made the remarks during the 6th graduation ceremony of Taita Taveta University on Friday.
The minister, who had just been awarded an Honorary Degree in Humane Letters by the university, pledged to champion policies that ensure our educational system is robust, inclusive and forward-looking.
“Our focus will be on nurturing critical thinking, innovation and skills development to prepare our youth for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century,” he added.
The CS asked the leadership of higher education institutions to explore ways of adjusting their programmes costs, curricula and models of delivering training in the context of rising cost of offering quality education and the diversified training needs of the job market.
The university Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Fred Barasa said the university was providing high quality education and training to its students, saying it had some of the best faculty members for this.
Present at the occasion were Chancellor of the university Dr Sally Kosgey, chairman of the Council Prof Isaac Mbeche, and Vice Chancellors from public universities, among other dignitaries.
By our reporter
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