Magoha allays students and parents’ fears over tripling of university fees

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has allayed fears that university students’ fees will be tripled soon.

Speaking in Kisii on Thursday, December 3, while evaluating exam candidates’ learning progress in primary and secondary schools, the minister said that all stakeholders, including the students themselves and the Cabinet, must agree on a fee formula that won’t burden the learners or their guardians.

“It is true that the portion paid by students as university fees has not been revised for the last 30 years. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider revising it now. Parliament and other people discussed and said the fees will be increased three times. [However, things do not happen like that],” said Prof. Magoha.

“There is an Executive arm of Government which will still receive that decision and share it with major stakeholders [in higher education]. The stakeholders must include the students themselves. That collective decision must also take into account that the COVID-19 pandemic has dented many Kenyans’ pockets.

“[I want to tell parents and university students that] there is no need for any tension, whatsoever. We are not going to wake up one day and say: ‘pay Ksh48,000 [as college fees] or go home’. This [discussion on fee increment] is work in progress. Once we have confirmed with stakeholders, then we can communicate that decision to the Cabinet for further action,” said the minister.

Prof. Magoha’s remarks come two days after the National Treasury backed proposals by vice chancellors to triple university fees so as to keep the institutions in business.

National Treasury Principal Secretary Julius Muia told Parliament reviewing fees is part of policy options to ensure financial sustainability in universities.

The vice chancellors propose that tuition fees be increased to Ksh48,000 from the current Ksh16,000 for fresh students to ease cash flow challenges that have affected operations.

“Our suggestion is that we increase tuition fee to Ksh48,000, then raise bursary allocation for those students not able to raise that amount,” Muia told the National Assembly Committee on Education.

Tripling the fees will mark the first major review of university fees since the end of free university education in 1991 and introduction of the students’ loans scheme — the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) — in 1995.