Trade Cabinet Secretary(CS) Moses Kuria on Tuesday, January 24, revealed plans to kickstart the privatisation of some of the public universities in the country.
Kuria stated that privatisation might be the saving grace for some of the institutions of higher learning which had been crippled with debts running into billions.
He disclosed that he had established contact with international investors and was waiting for a green light from Education CS Ezekiel Machogu.
"The rush to have more universities is catching up with us. I am speaking with some of the international investors who are willing to partner with our universities to privately run some of them profitably," he remarked.
Kuria claimed that the financial struggles experienced by universities were because the supply of education surpassed the demand.
He expressed conviction that the country's education system was among the best in the world and would deliberate on capitalizing on the international market as well.
"CS Machogu and I will work to establish the actual demand for universities in the local market. We want to match America in terms of being the centre of excellence for international education," Kuria declared.
The Trade boss noted that investors will be tasked with marketing Kenyan as an education centre for excellence.
He argued that privatisation will stop the haemorrhage of resources in public institutions, including the vast land that they sit on.
"Investors can increase the profitability of the land by using it for agriculture and the affordable housing project," Kuria reiterated.
On basic education, the CS stated that the government had barred schools from dictating where parents can buy school uniforms and textbooks.
He claimed that with over 14 million pupils, the uniform industry had the potential to generate revenue and should not be dominated by a few traders.
