Universities are staring at a severe financial crisis, with billions of shillings in funding shortfalls threatening to disrupt academic programmes, stall critical projects and force institutions to close their doors.
According to the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, the State Department for Higher Education and Research is asking to be allocated Sh6.48 billion, with an additional Sh9.63 billion in appropriations.
University education takes the lion’s share at Sh6.47 billion, while research, science, technology, and innovation receive a modest Sh20 million, despite an initial Sh558,250 cut.
Education Principal Secretary Dr Beatrice Inyangala, while appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee, appealed for additional resources to sustain vital programmes in the education sector. She noted that there is a significant Sh13.7 million deficit for essential graduate projects.
“For us to keep these programmes running and ensure students complete their studies, we urgently need additional funding. Without this, the situation is dire,” Dr Inyangala said.
She revealed that for the first cohort of KCSE 2023, the funding gap is Sh12.3 billion. Many students who applied for support this year remain unfunded, resulting in a Sh4.9 million shortfalls.
Additionally, continuing students face a deficit of sh4.8 billion, especially those graduating, while another sh1 billion is needed for continuing students. This contributes to an overall shortfall of sh13.7 million.
“This is very serious, if this money is not available, universities might actually close by the last quarter of this financial year, we are experiencing a lot of problems, strikes are becoming more frequent, and students are dropping out — not because they lack ability, but because they lack financial support,” she said.
Further, the PS said that the same financial strain applies to scholarships, which now face a Sh11.2 billion deficit. The shortfall stems from the first-time applicants of the 2022 cohort, where Sh1 billion was allocated but not disbursed.
“The 2022 cohorts were partially funded, but for the current cohort, the funding requirement was Sh13.9 billion, with only Sh4.2 billion provided, leaving a deficit of Sh9.6 billion,” she said.
“The current allocation stands at Sh23 billion, which represents only 38.75 per cent of the required amount. If universities were to be funded at a 50 per cent level, an additional Sh6 billion would be needed to adequately support them,” she said
At the same time, Dr Inyangala noted that private universities have been funded at just 4 per cent, with a deficit of Sh1.6 billion. In terms of research development, she called on the committee to allocate Sh1.5 million for the review of the national technology policy and to support the national research and development agenda. She also requested Sh20 million for staff training.
“We need to invest in our people. Training our staff is critical to ensure the quality of education remains high despite these financial constraints,” she said.
Another pressing concern is the backlog of pending bills related to foreign travel, which have accumulated since last year. With the current budget being reduced to zero, the State Department is struggling to manage these financial obligations.
“Some of these bills are more than a year old,” she said. “We have been left with no allocation this year to clear them.”
On capital project revisions, Dr Inyangala said that minimal funding for capital implementation had put many projects at risk of stalling, contributing to the backlog of pending bills.
The primary issue remains the financial deficit. Funds initially allocated for pending bills were redirected in January, leaving an estimated Sh8 billion in outstanding bills, down from an initial sh14 billion. Half of this amount is earmarked for the first phase of projects requiring restructuring.
The University of Nairobi was allocated Sh7.92 million to establish a coordination centre for a judicial project, which is ongoing. Additional expenditure requests are under consideration to ensure the project's successful implementation
“This is our time to fix these issues, we can’t continue operating like this — our institutions are at risk, and so is the future of our students and the country,” Dr Inyangala said
