Government succumbs to private universities' pressure over capitation billions
Parliament in session.
The fear of losing billions in capitation fees has seen the government yield to pressure from private universities effectively abandoning a proposal that would have given Kenya University and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) board the responsibility of placing all students in both public and private universities.
The idea was simply not a guarantee for state funding but to allow KUCCPs the responsibility to coordinate the placement for the sake of standardization and quality control of the courses offered and the qualification of students.
However, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula acceded to the request by leader of majority Kimani Ichung’wah to withdraw the proposed amendments on the Universities Act of 2012.
The proposed changes to the law were contained in the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2023, a government-sponsored Omnibus Bill, which had proposed changes to 17 Acts including the Universities Act.
“I wish to notify the House that I have received a request from the leader of majority seeking my consent for withdrawal of the proposed amendment as contained in the Bill,” Speaker Wetang’ula says.
The Speaker added; “I have acceded to the request by the leader of majority to withdraw the provision as contained in the Bill.”
The Bill sought to amend section 56 (1) (a) of the Universities Act to provide that “the placement board shall be responsible for placing all students, rather than only government-sponsored students, in universities and colleges.”
The section which was intended for amendment provides that the functions of the Board shall be to co-ordinate the placement of the government-sponsored students to universities and colleges.
Allowing KUCCPS board to place students in all public and private universities would have denied proprietors of private universities the current capitation they are receiving from the government-sponsored students.
Therefore, removing the phrase “government-sponsored” from the law would have allowed KUCCPS board to only place students with the choice of which universities to join, a preserve of the students.
For instance, on the KUCCPS portal, if a student chooses a private university as an institution of their choice, it means that public funds will not follow them and therefore, they will cater for their education expenses fully.
While those opting for public institutions are guaranteed government sponsorship, this does not apply to every student depending on their financial background.
Government-sponsored students were first admitted to private universities in 2016 when the state initiated a pilot programme targeting 10,000 learners to expand university education in the country as spaces in public facilities were limited.
The programme started with an allocation of Sh2 billion with the first batch of 6,312 students receiving an average capitation of Sh70,000 before the amount was increased to Sh84,217 for the second batch which had 18,587 learners.
The private universities were then required to declare on their websites, the course they offer and how much they charge.
This was to allow the government to plan. The number of government-sponsored students in private universities has since increased to over 80,000.
In the letter to the Speaker, Mr Ichung’wah states that various stakeholders “have raised concerns regarding the proposed amendment necessitating further consultations and engagement within the sector.”
The House’s Public Investments Committee on Education and Governance is currently considering a related matter on the funding of University education in the country.
“It would therefore be prudent to allow for the conclusion of these processes before determining the appropriate course of action,” noted Speaker Wetang’ula.
By the time of requesting for the withdrawal of the proposal, the debate on the Bill had already concluded and it was set for the committee of the whole House stage- where the Bill is considered clause by clause.
This therefore means that the Omnibus Bill will proceed without referring to the withdrawn provision and will be considered as though the withdrawn section was not part of the Bill.
State funding to both public and private universities is based on the Differential Unit Cost (DUC) model where the institutions are allocated budgets based on the number of undergraduate students they register for the state-funded regular programme and courses they choose.
With this model, the government is required to cater for 80 percent of the unit cost while the balance is financed by the students.
