State’s Move To Stop Placing Students In Private Universities Spells Doom For MKU

At least 31 private universities are staring at a bleak future after Members of Parliament (MPs) banned the placement of government-sponsored students to the institutions.

This is after the parliament approved a report of the Budget and Appropriation Committee on the 2023-24 Budget Policy Statement, which spells out priority expenditures for the government, and directed the Kenya Universities and College Placement Services (KUCCPS) to stop placing government sponsored students to private universities.

The statement shows the government has terminated exchequer funding for private universities beginning the next Financial Year. KUCCPS is the only institution mandated by law to place Form Four graduates in universities and colleges.

One of the biggest casualties of the move is Mount Kenya University that has been the biggest beneficiary of the plan.

Of the 30 universities among the top beneficiaries include Mount Kenya that gets Sh552.3 million for 12,479 students, Kabarak, Sh357.9 million for 7,715 students, Catholic University of East Africa Sh196.9 million for 4,685 students, Kenya College of Accountancy  gets Sh223.9 billion for 5,142 students, university of Eastern African Baraton Sh183 billion for 4222 students and Zetech University Sh115.4 million for 2,836 students.

According to documents from Universities Fund in the 2017/18 Financial Year, private universities received Sh1.6 billion as grants for 18,587 students, in 2018/19FY they received Sh1.98 billion for 29,729 students, in 2019/20 FY they received Sh2.5 billion for 43,676 students while in the 2020/21 Financial Year they received Sh2.7 billion.

In the last four years, private campuses have received grants worth Sh8.7 billion from the government at the expense of public universities.

MKU and TSC Deal

MKU is also a major beneficiary of the previous regime where in 2021, it cut a deal with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to offer professional courses for teachers.

This was after the teacher’s employer enforced that the refresher courses will be a requirement for teachers to enable them to renew their practising certificate every five years.

Mount Kenya University Vice Chancellor Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi holding a copy of the contract signed with Teachers Service Commission.

In this state-private sector deal, the institution stood to earn billions. It’s unclear how the process of choosing the suitable institutions were done and of it was an open process. The institution is associated with Simon Gicharu who was recently implicated in a botched land deal.