Government turns down KSh41bn university funding request
Government turns down KSh41bn university funding request amid a fee-hike proposal that will see tuition fees
Government turns down KSh41bn university funding request amid a fee-hike proposal that will see tuition fees.
The government has turned down Sh41.6 billion in funding requests from Public universities and the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb).
Public universities and Helb, which have recently attributed their underperformance to underfunding, requested a total of Sh144.6 billion from the National Treasury for the upcoming fiscal year beginning in July but were only given Sh103 billion, according to an analysis of official statistics.
Due to the Sh41.6 billion shortfall that was left among the 39 public universities, staff layoffs will be necessary as the cash-strapped institutions are forced to eliminate various expenses, including some courses.
This deficit is wider than the current one for Financial Year 2022/23 of Sh27.9 billion, pointing to a trend where the government has not been able to keep up with the growing funding needs of public universities.
Public universities had a funding requirement of Sh71.9 billion in the current Financial Year ending June but were only allocated Sh44 billion, according to official data.
Kenyatta University had the largest deficit at Sh10 billion after its demand of Sh19.7 billion was slashed by more than half.
The National Treasury has only allocated it Sh9.65 billion, which is under half of what the university had demanded.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) did not get Sh2.5 billion out of the Sh9 billion that it required.
The Technical University of Kenya had a deficit of Sh2.2 billion, Egerton University (Sh1.8 billion), Kaimosi University (Sh1.36 billion), and Karatina University (Sh1.35 billion).
The Technical University of Mombasa had a deficit of Sh1.3 billion, Maseno University (Sh1.1 billion) and Moi University (Sh1 billion).
Nearly all the colleges did not have their wishes met, except for Co-operative University and Garissa University.
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Co-operative University surpassed their requirements by Sh20 million while Garissa University was allocated their spending needs of Sh701 million.
“The growing deficits only mean that the pending bills will continue to grow, thereby worsening the current problems. Unless the problem is addressed as a matter of urgency, our universities will face difficulties existing as going concerns,” said Education Cabinet secretary Ezekiel Machogu.
Mr Machogu was speaking during the opening of the first biennial Kenya Universities Funding Conference that was held on Thursday in Mombasa.
He acknowledged that public universities have challenges with a debt of Sh56 billion in the form of unremitted staff pensions and statutory deductions such as pay-as-you-earn (PAYE).
Helb, which supplements the 80 per cent that State-sponsored students receive, saw close to Sh9.8 billion of its request rejected with the exchequer only approving an allocation of Sh17.8 billion to the students’ loan body.
Helb, which has been looking for alternative ways of raising funds even as it aggressively goes after defaulters, had requested Sh27.6 billion from the exchequer.
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