Another Hurdle For Ruto As High Court Rules Against New University Funding Model
The High Court has found the new university funding scheme illegitimate and unconstitutional.
Justice Chacha Mwita declared on Friday, December 20, that the fund established in May of last year is illegal due to its lack of legal foundation, discriminatory nature, and inability to include public involvement.
“It should have been subjected to the public so that the public comments before its implementation,” Justice Mwita noted.
According to the judgment, the alterations spearheaded by President William Ruto did not follow the appropriate legal standards when developing the model.
The High Court has declared the new University funding model unconstitutional.
— TheStarKenya (@TheStarKenya) December 20, 2024
The court cited a lack of public participation, prohibiting the government from implementing it.#starkenyanews pic.twitter.com/oNdOeiVwjN
As a result, Mwita asked the Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos, the Attorney General, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), the Trustees of the Universities Fund Kenya, and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCPS) not to carry out the concept.
Mwita issued the directives in a lawsuit filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) last year.
The Higher Education Funding Model, according to the government, was designed to address budgetary issues at public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
The model moves away from the former Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) system, which offered block funding to institutions, and toward a student-centered strategy that gives financial aid based on individual student needs.
In its court filing, KHRC said that the model was unconstitutional since it did not provide for needy students.
The petitioners stated that the new model has caused uncertainty in picking TVET courses since students are experiencing delays due to a lack of clear instructions from KUCCPS.
“The variable scholarship and loan funding model is arbitrary, obscure, expensive, undefined, and illegal; an affront to the right to education as part of economic social rights,” part of the petition by the KHRC read.
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Judge Mwita criticized the government’s decision to shift responsibility to parents, claiming that it is the government’s responsibility to pay public colleges.
The judge went on to say that passing duty to parents was a violation of the Constitution and that legitimate expectation was violated.
The implementation of the funding scheme sparked protests among university students, the majority of whom rejected it.
The methodology resulted in some pupils missing out on university slots due to a lack of finances.
Another Hurdle For Ruto As High Court Rules Against New University Funding Model
