Expansion of the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) will not take place without proper planning, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has warned.
Duale spoke on Wednesday, September 17, during the flag-off ceremony of eight new vehicles at the KMTC headquarters, where he emphasised that it would not be enough to simply expand KMTC campuses.
According to Duale, while access to medical training remained paramount, expansion must be matched with proper planning, adequate staffing and financial responsibility.
The CS specifically highlighted the need for proper staff-to-student ratios as mandated by regulatory bodies. With this in mind, he emphasised that the expansion of campuses without investment in other areas, like the recruitment of trainers, would hamper their functionality.
“Infrastructure is not an end in itself. We must apply economies of scale," Duale said, pointing to Garissa County, where one KMTC campus effectively serves multiple constituencies, as a model for efficient resource utilisation.
The CS further highlighted that a fully functional campus needed trained staff, equipment and funding, and unchecked expansion could strain existing resources.
During the same engagement, the CS also addressed the long-standing concern regarding the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
Duale revealed that, under the directive of President William Ruto, underprivileged KMTC students would start benefiting from HELB within this financial year.
Earlier in the year, the National Treasury allocated Ksh500 million to support financially disadvantaged students at KMTC, but only 34,000 applicants secured funding, leaving thousands in limbo.
Founded in 1927, the KMTC is the country's largest institution for training healthcare professionals and operates under the Ministry of Health.
With over 71 campuses across the country and being government-sponsored, the KMTC has emerged as one of the more lucrative institutions in the country, attracting students pursuing higher learning in the medical field.
The enticement of KMTC's programmes also lies in their direct link to employment in the public health sector. Recent data from the Ministry of Health estimated that over 85 per cent of Kenya's medical workforce passed through KMTC at some point.
