Fees confusion leaves institutions, students in limbo

Families who had planned to organise harambees to raise fees early shelved those plans after the government's funding promise, only to find themselves stranded when the disbursement failed to materialise. Stakeholders warn that learners from poor households should not be pushed into debt over a government commitment that has yet to be honoured.

There are growing fears of a looming crisis, with concerns that students could graduate carrying huge debts accumulated while waiting for government support that never came through as promised. Some learners are already attending classes without knowing whether they will be allowed to continue, while others remain at home, uncertain of their next course of action.

Speaking during a press briefing on Sunday, Boaz Waruku, Policy Advisor at the Elimu Bora Working Group, called on the government to clarify its position on the affected September intake students and outline a clear way forward.

"We want parliament to legislate the right, not the promise. Right now we are rushing to ensure that the promise by the president bears fruit, but we need to work towards the right, not the promise," Waruku said.

He said a memorandum has already been submitted to parliament regarding proposed changes to the law governing higher education financing.

"We are embracing the aspect of bringing the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, because it starts by emphasising universal placement. The principle of universal funding, to say full government funding, that we have embraced. But the mechanism of actualising these principles is what is lacking, and our memorandum to parliament is on what should be done," he explained.

As the Ministry of Education and other agencies work to untangle the confusion, Waruku outlined a set of proposals aimed at easing the immediate crisis. For students already placed and in school, he called for the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the University Fund to be granted their allocations immediately so they can disburse an interim funding stream to affected students.

For those still stranded at home awaiting placement, he proposed that the Ministry of Interior coordinate a mop-up exercise to help them travel to their designated institutions so they too can access the interim funding once it is released.

Waruku also raised concern over the state of learning institutions themselves, questioning how administrators are expected to run their institutions without disbursements, and called for funds to be extended to them as well to keep operations running.