Members of the National Assembly have raised concerns regarding high admission fees charged by Kenyan public universities.
In a statement on the Floor, Nyando MP Jared Okello told the House that some public universities charge entry fees of between Ksh 258,000 and Ksh 450,000.
Okello said the high fees were unaffordable to most students, leading to a massive upsurge in the number of families organizing fundraisers to send their children for higher education.
In addition, he said the situation has been worsened by uncertainties on criteria that the Ministry of Education uses to qualify students for bursaries and scholarships.
“I am afraid that we are going to lose so many young brains that ought to have been plugged to university education ending up languishing out here. Our current crop of students are quite delicate and very vulnerable,” said Hon. Okello.
Gilgil MP Martha Wangari said a good number of students who had qualified for university but were yet to get their national Identification Cards have been disenfranchised as they could not apply for funding from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
Other Members who contributed, said the funding model needs to be relooked to reinstate the capitation model that guaranteed cheaper admission fees for all students.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu is expected to appear before MPs to shed light on the new University Funding Model.
The meeting comes in the wake of fears that students may miss loans for being underage and hitches on the online application system that closes this Sunday, August 27.
