Students of the University of Nairobi (UoN) began their strike on Monday to protest against the new university funding model.
The students were scheduled to take their grievances to the Ministry of Education. While carrying placards and chanting protest songs, the students were blocked at Serena Hotel by the police who wanted to ascertain whether their demonstration was legal.
Among other things, the students lament that those who are yet to join UoN have not yet received their funding despite the Ministry of Education issuing orders to have all students admitted.
They decry the new funding model has resulted in increased cost of university education, which they fear will lock out many deserving students from ever accessing university education.
This is after the University of Nairobi's Student Council issued a notice on August 16 on its intention to rally its members to demonstrate on September 2.
UoN student leaders on Saturday, August 31, urged fellow students in other universities in the country to join them on a planned strike to agitate for scrapping of the university funding model.
The students raised concerns over the new funding model terming it as discriminatory and punitive as it prevented students from poor households from affording quality university education.
The UoN student leaders lamented that their efforts to have their concerns addressed were futile forcing them to call for the nationwide demonstrations.
“The public at large is crying because they have been placed in the wrong bands and subjected to pay excessive amounts of fees,” one of the student leaders explained.
"It is high time that the government listened to urge all students from all universities and mainly from UoN to come out on September 2.”
On August 23, the Ministry of Education disclosed that nearly 10,000 aggrieved students have so far registered appeals through the Higher Education Financing (HEF) portal contesting the new university funding model.
Separately, the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) are also on strike. UASU had issued a 7-day ultimatum on August 26 to have their demands met failure to which they would demonstrate.
