Members of Parliament (MPs) have instructed the Ministry of Education to re-issue new fee structures for university students, showing only the amount parents are expected to pay minus government loans.
The MPs complained that the current fee structure, which shows students the full amount, has scared parents and demoralised students, with some dropping out because of the high amounts they are expected to pay.
In the directive, the MPs want the ministry to indicate only what parents are expected to pay in a semester, rather than a lump sum for the entire course, which they say has caused anguish among parents and students.
“You can imagine you are a parent living in a grass-thatched house and you have two children joining the university, then you get a fee structure that you are supposed to pay Sh1.2 million for the two students. Where do you expect such a parent to get the money? asked Moiben MP, Phyllis Bartoo.
In a meeting with Principal Secretary for Higher Education and Research Beatrice Inyangala, the National Assembly committee on education resolved that the new fee structure should be issued before July 31 to enable parents to prepare adequately.
“This is a directive that we have issued as a committee and we are not going to relent on it,” said the committee chairman Julius Melly.
For instance, MPs want if a student who has been categorised in tier one in the new government model is going to benefit from the government by 95 percent, then the respective university should only send the parent the remaining five percent broken down per semester and not for the entire course.
“Fee is paid for a service offered, why would you send a parent fee structure for five years if your intention is not to scare them? Only send fee structure for the semester the student is in school,” Mr Melly said.
Luanda MP Dick Maungu narrated how he was approached by a student set to join Masinde Muliro University to study engineering and was given a fee structure of Sh4 million for the five years.
“This is a young man, whose mother is only doing odd jobs and he is expected to pay Sh4 million. He told me he cannot afford it and was on the verge of dropping out,” Mr Maungu said.
“It is good to give hope to these young people, if a person has been given 95 funding from the government, just tell him for the five years he will only pay Sh120,000 for the five years,” he added.
The chairman of the public universities vice chancellors’ committee Daniel Mugendi told MPs admitted that the current letters that were issued to students caused panic, saying the institutions will issue new ones in compliance with the committee directives.
“I agree that the letters are unfortunate, we have agreed we will have structured letters. We want to tell parents not to worry about the figures as they will only pay what households should pay,” Prof Mugendi said.
Dr Inyangala told MPs that the ministry will issue the new fee structure on July 31 ahead of the reporting of students in August and September.
However, Siaya Woman Representative Christine Ombaka warned that the move may be counterproductive as some students had already given up while some parents had already sold their properties and paid the full amount as was indicated in the initial letter.
“I see a total mess because some students may not report while others have already paid the indicated amount, will they be refunded? Posed Dr Ombaka.
Dr Inyangala assured MPs that universities have a structured process of refund and those who had paid should seek a refund.
Recently, students and parents have been shocked by the high fees indicated in the admission letters issued to them by various universities.
The fee structures indicate the total amount of fees for every course without factoring in government support.
