Azimio leadership in the National Assembly through its Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi on Tuesday, August 8 issued several demands to the Kenya Kwanza government, regarding higher education funding and admission of students.
In a statement, Wandayi highlighted the effects of the new university funding model, saying it will hurt the country’s education system and burden parents.
“The new classification of citizens that has cunningly placed very few (29%) in the category of Vulnerable and Very Needy and who will qualify for 100% support in scholarships and loans leaves the majority to struggle with huge student loans and parental burden.
Needless to say, many children will drop out of university,” Wandayi stated.
He wondered why the government making access to education a privilege, locking out millions of Kenyans.
“It is official that those who do not fall under Vulnerable and Needy categories will meet up to 62% of the cost of their studies as government conveniently carries 28% of the cost.
These are the same parents that are struggling with the huge tax burdens that the disgraced Finance Act 2023 has yoked on their shoulders.”
The opposition also took issue with high fees, which public universities are charging, with some courses costing almost half a million shillings.
“Kenyans have further noted with shock and dismay the hefty fees and bloated fees structures from Kenyan public universities,” he noted.
Azimio faults Admission
Azimio also took issue with the fact out of the 881,416 students who sat for the KCSE exams, almost 600,000 did not apply to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to join universities or colleges.
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”Government’s own admission, out of the 881,416 learners who sat KCSE exams in 2022, almost 600,000 did not apply to KUCCPS to join Universities or Colleges. This accounts for 68% of youths that the government of Kenya cannot account for.” Wandayi said in the statement.
He accused the government of imposing unnecessary application fees of Ksh.1500 per applicant and failing to give clear information on the process of application.
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Consequently, Azimio asked KUCCPS to allow students who missed the deadlines to reapply for their preferred courses.
