Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has proposed a raft of measures to cure wastage of resources in public universities and their over-dependence on national government funds.
Terming wastage of resources in public universities alarming, the CS proposed right-sizing of university staff as one way of dealing with the problem.
Prof Magoha warned varsities’ management against employing many non-academic staff from the local community, instead of qualified academic staff, noting it will save institutions from accumulating debt.
According to the CS, the number of academic staff should be more than the non-academic staff.
"The ratio of academic staff to non-academic staff should be 70:30. If you populate the university with your tribesmen, then it will end up being a village institution," Prof Magoha said while discouraging nepotism.
He spoke on Friday at the 20th graduation ceremony of Maseno University, where he was the chief guest. Over 3,500 students graduated in a ceremony that was both physical and virtual, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
There have been complaints about the employment of staff in public universities, with some communities and leaders insisting that they should have a vice chancellor from their own tribes.
While he was not against employment of locals, the Education CS urged considering of merit over tribe.
"Our universities are not agencies of employment for locals. Can vice chancellors be bold enough to right-size and not wait for the IMF to do it for them?"
He said the number of universities should also be reduced, warning vice chancellors against allowing politicians to push for an increase in the institutions to satisfy their interests.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha at Maseno University in Kisumu County on April 30, 2021, for the 20th graduation ceremony.
Photo credit: Tonny Omondi | Nation Media Group
Prof Magoha also asked public universities to stop all new projects and instead use available funds to complete unfinished ones as ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He also faulted councils manning the institutions for not being creative enough to raise their own funds.
Mr Magoha also challenged vice chancellors of all universities to set aside some funds for training professors in writing research proposals to attract more funds for the institutions.
He noted that during his tenure at the University of Nairobi, he managed to grow the research allocation from Sh350 million to Sh4. 5 billion.
"It is a professor who makes a university. He or she must be able to write proposals that attract funds from foreign bodies to help carry out research programmes, not wait for government funding," said the CS.
Prof Magoha acknowledged the rise in enrollment numbers in universities but said this should not interfere with the quality of facilities.
He warned the universities against accepting more students that they can teach and train adequately.
He also challenged university professors to write papers which can be cited by their peers and other people, lest their titles are questioned.
The CS advised the graduates to use the skills acquired to search for solutions to various problems affecting the society.
Maseno VC, Prof Julius Nyabundi, asked the county government to improve the road infrastructure within and around the university.
