Kenya has set in motion a clear plan to ease its higher education admission crisis, with the Joint Admissions Board (JAB) announcing this month that institutions would admit one in three rather than one in four qualified school-leavers and the government upping funding for the sector.
JAB, which admits students on behalf of the government, said it had resolved to have a double intake of new students and planned to clear an admissions backlog of 40,000 students by 2015.
In the coming academic year universities will admit 32, 611 students who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 2009 or 2010, out of 96,000 who qualified. Last year, JAB admitted only 24,000 students. Universities such as Kenyatta have already made arrangements to accommodate students who sat for their examinations last year.
High-achieving publicly-funded students have had to wait for at least a year for a university place after leaving school, because of the admissions backlog that has built up over decades and has been driven by demand for higher education exceeding the ability of universities to supply places. Privately-funded students can enrol straight away.
To support the programme, the Ministry of Finance upped its direct funding to public universities from Sh21.8 billion ($259 million) to Sh24.1 billion ($286.9 million) in the fiscal year beginning next month. Universities are projected to generate at least Sh14 billion from commercial activities, bringing to the total budget to Sh38 billion ($452 million).
The 22 newly established constituent colleges set up by Kenya's seven public universities will be the biggest beneficiaries of the allocation, giving them the financial muscle to expand facilities to admit more students.
JAB Chairman Professor Barasa Wangila, who is also Vice-chancellor of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, said the board was now working on modalities to admit students who sat the school examination last year.
"This is in preparation for the first free primary education students who will have finished form four by 2015. Based on the current performance analysis, it is expected that more than 150,000 are likely to qualify for university intake and we need to clear the backlog before then."
But even with the increased allocation, educationists said institutions might not be able to absorb a much larger number of students and they would need more money to expand infrastructure and hire additional lecturers.
Public universities rely heavily on state funding. Failure to increase funding in line with rising enrolments has undermined their expansion plans, including the construction of new campuses, at a time when classes are overflowing.
Due to a recurring financial crunch, the government last year announced that it would ask private institutions to admit 20,000 additional students. But talks with private universities seem to have collapsed, with the government failing to act on several requests they made as conditions for participating in the deal. For example, they wanted tax exemptions. The private sector is now questioning the government's commitment to engaging them.
The government also allocated Sh50 million ($595,238) to set up the distance National Open University of Kenya, which will enable more students to pursue degrees through online learning, a trend already practiced on a small scale by private universities. Officials have said the open university should be up and running by the end of this year.
Kenya also made a Sh50 million ($595,238) allocation for the Pan African University (PAU), which is due to go live in September. The PAU is an African Union-driven, continent-wide specialised postgraduate training and research institution comprising a network of university 'nodes' in five regions.
Kenya will be the East Africa hub for sciences, technology and innovation, and has selected Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology to host the host the region's PAU node. The allocation could tame funding fears facing the new university, although the African Union is yet to announce its funding for the project.
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