The government is exploring new criteria to determine the allocation of funds to universities in Kenya.
On Thursday, February 23, the Universities Fund unveiled the model that would see a departure from the usual criteria based on student enrolment and population.
In the model tabled during the Biennial University Fund Conference in Mombasa - part of the funds allocated to universities will be apportioned based on the performance of individual universities as judged through selected key performance indicators (KPI).
Among the KPIs listed in the conference include the employability rate of graduates within one year after graduation, in a move seeking to assess the appropriateness of courses taught in the universities.
Further, the government proposed that future fund allocations be based on the course completion rate in the individual universities and the research output realized in the respective institution.
Gender balance and equity will also play a factor once the recommendations are ratified in the process of revitalising public universities.
The proposals came at a time the government maintained that universities should no longer depend on state funding to run their operations in the future.
Speaking during the conference- Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu urged universities to explore alternative ways to raise revenue.
In his speech, Machogu acknowledged the crises in public universities where most institutions grappled with pending bills and debts accumulated over the years.
However, he assured that the government was steadfast in resolving the crises and saving institutions of higher learning from collapsing.
The CS added that his Ministry would push beyond limits to breathe life into struggling universities - albeit on the condition that they deliver on their mandate of contributing to the economy's prosperity.
“I wish to assure Kenyans that the Government will do everything possible in terms of legislative, policy and budgetary interventions to implement measures that will ensure the sustainability of our universities," Machogu noted.
“The students that the universities teach and train, the universities’ research output and the innovations and inventions resulting from our universities are what will propel this country’s social, political and economic development."
If ratified, the proposals will be integrated with those fronted by the Presidential Working Party on Education in the final draft of findings presented to the President.
