Increased funding and change of system sure way to secure public varsities

The evolution of university education in the country has undergone full metamorphosis, and now just like human life, senescence is setting in. Unless something is done to revitalise their operations, certain and sure death is following.

Having spent two different decades in the university halls, there is a decaying smell hanging around, at least from a student’s perspective. Those who studied in the 80’s and 90’s would suggest urgent reforms to return to status quo.

At the core is survival and evolving. To achieve the latter, resources are needed. However, revelations that cumulatively, they are in the red to the tune of Sh34 billion is worrying.

It seems they are trapped in-between dwindling public funding and growing expenses, some unfortunately, unrelated to academic activities.

To escape this trap, universities must look elsewhere at how peers caught in similar bogs maneouvered the situation.

My views are that they should quickly reestablish themselves as beacons of excellence, research and innovation. Secondly, they must attract top talent faculty and reward them accordingly. Here, is where it seems University of Nairobi’s new Vice Chancellor fight is starting.

After a protracted and not a totally apolitical process, the VC was finally installed. In itself, the exercise revealed not for the first time, the underhand side of creeping political influence in academia; a place where meritocracy ought to be the only word used.

The first chapter from his “change manifesto” issued a far-reaching salvo on university professors’ tenures. Reforms, it seems must not just be anchored on more funding, but also the core functions of nurturing the nation’s intellect, a task that seems to be failing in many of our institutions.

One of the questions is how do you get young, “hungry” and motivated academicians to stay, if tenures go to 70 years.

The equivalent in the medical world, would be drugs called competitive blockers; they cannot be displaced from their receptors once they bind, despite their occupancy not having much action. Exceptions do exist, but naturally as humans, our productivity and intellect diminish beyond certain ages. Those involved in the reforms process must choose between death for all, or survival for some.

Left as is, a guaranteed collapse in the trust and credibility of our university system will follow. Here, it seems is the seat of the struggle. In comparison to Western peers, faculty tenures are vested at younger ages, while ours tend to come much later on. Would addressing this bottleneck mend things?

Secondly, universities must anchor new revenue streams in their funding armamentarium. The ongoing BBI discussions offer student leaders and universities an opportune window to cement funding raises from taxes. Linking industry with academia and patent ownership is another a vital path.

Depite the pain that comes with it, students must also accept that fees has to rise if quality education is to be gained.