Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba has revealed the government’s plan following the High Court’s decision to strike down the new higher education funding model.
Speaking during the Rongo University graduation ceremony, CS Ogamba stated that the government would work on modifying the model to address the issues raised by the High Court.
“The President formed a working party committee to re-examine the entire funding model and refine it to ensure the next cohort does not face the same challenges encountered during the admission of the current cohort. That committee is continuing its work,” Ogamba stated.
“We have introduced an interim report, which we will review before producing a final report. Once it is finalised, we will implement it to ensure the funding model for the next cohort serves its purpose and no student is left behind.”
President William Ruto addressed graduands at the University of East Africa Baraton in Nandi County on August 18, 2024.
William Ruto
This announcement comes just a day after Justice Chacha Mwita ruled that the model was unconstitutional, stating that the government had not conducted proper public participation before implementing it.
The High Court judge also noted that the model was discriminatory in categorising students into various bands.
“It should have been subjected to the public so that the public could comment before its implementation,” Justice Mwita noted.
As a result, he directed CS Ogamba, the Attorney General, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), the Trustees of the Universities Fund Kenya, and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) not to implement it.
The court ruling followed a petition filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) in 2023.
“The variable scholarship and loan funding model is arbitrary, obscure, expensive, undefined, and illegal; an affront to the right to education as part of economic social rights,” part of the petition by KHRC read.
Ogamba also criticised the government’s move to shift the responsibility to parents, emphasising that it was the government’s duty to fund public universities.
The controversy surrounding its implementation sparked nationwide protests by university students, who felt discriminated against and called for the reinstatement of HELB.
Multimedia University Students protest over delayed HELB disbursement in Kajiado County on October 3, 2023.
Photo
LMunene