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Varsities, TVETs face Sh59bn funding hole
Education ministry data shows only Sh86.83 billion is available for scholarships, loans, and capitation for the students against a requirement of Sh145.54 billion in the financial period to June.
Universities and technical and vocational education training institutions (TVETs) face a funding shortfall of Sh58.8billion in the financial year to end in June 2025, signalling further cash woes for new and continuing students.
Education ministry data shows only Sh86.83 billion is available for scholarships, loans, and capitation for the students against a requirement of Sh145.54 billion in the financial period to June.
“This resource gap is a clear indication that learners at various levels are not funded as expected based on existing policies on funding,” the Parliamentary Budget Office notes in a review of the ministry’s data.
“This may in the long run affect the quality of education being delivered in our learning institutions hence negatively affecting the education outcomes.”
The revelation throws into more doubt the future of hundreds of thousands of students, especially given the lack of funds for their upkeep and also mounting fee arrears. The students last year staged protests over the chaos facing the new funding model.
New students banking on government support for their higher education have since last year faced increased uncertainties under the new need-based funding model that the State billed as a game-changer in funding university education.
Capitation for continuing students under the old Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) has the biggest hit with only Sh26.1 billion available against the needed Sh59.3 billion while Sh35.9 billion is available for loans under the new model for university and TVETs students against the required Sh47.3 billion.
Scholarships for university students under the new needs-based model have been allocated Sh16.9 billion against the required Sh22.3 billion while a further Sh2.5 billion is available to fund scholarships for TVET students, leaving a gap of Sh5.3 billion.
The Treasury has also allocated Sh5.2 billion for the capitation of TVET students against the needed Sh8.83 billion, adding to the plight of the learners.
The government rolled out a needs-based funding model in 2023 to replace the DUC which had been cited as a key reason behind the unnecessary burden facing the Exchequer in sponsoring students from well-off families.
The new model has grouped students into four classes; vulnerable, extremely needy, needy, and less needy. But the model has come under fire after revelations that students have been wrongly placed, and adding to their financial burden.
Under the DUC, public and private universities are allocated funds based on the number of undergraduate students admitted and the courses they are pursuing.
