Gov’t Responds To Court’s Ruling On New University Funding Model
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba has detailed the government’s strategy following the High Court’s decision to overturn the new higher education funding model.
Speaking at the Rongo University graduation ceremony, CS Ogamba declared that the government would seek to adapt the model to address the challenges mentioned by the High Court.
“The President formed a working party committee to re-examine the entire funding model and refine it to ensure the next cohort does not face the same challenges encountered during the admission of the current cohort,” Ogamba stated.
“That committee is continuing its work. We have introduced an interim report, which we will review before producing a final report.”
He added: “Once it is finalised, we will implement it to ensure the funding model for the next cohort serves its purpose and no student is left behind.”
This announcement comes just one day after Justice Chacha Mwita decided that the model was unconstitutional, claiming that the government did not conduct adequate public consultation before implementing it.
The High Court judge further stated that the methodology was discriminatory in categorizing students into different bands.
“It should have been subjected to the public so that the public could comment before its implementation,” Justice Mwita noted.
As a result, he directed CS Ogamba, 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 (KUCCPS) not to carry it out.
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The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) petitioned the court in 2023, and the verdict was issued in response.
We appreciate the court's decision declaring the new university funding model unconstitutional. KHRC, Elimu Bora Working Group, Boaz Waruku, and the Students' Caucus took legal action against the government because the model excluded thousands of students from accessing higher… pic.twitter.com/xKYVpBkohd
— KHRC (@thekhrc) December 20, 2024
“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 KHRC read.
Ogamba also criticized the government’s decision to shift responsibility on parents, arguing that it was the government’s job to fund public colleges.
The issue surrounding its implementation provoked widespread protests by university students, who felt discriminated against and demanded the reintroduction of HELB.
Gov’t Responds To Court’s Ruling On New University Funding Model
