Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has been doing a commendable job. She is trying, by all means, to make the education Ministry way better. It seems Matiangi laid a good foundation for her. On the brighter side, we are glad she has not Kenyans down. commissioned an inter-ministerial task force to look into education systems and the delivery of services in universities. Universities have been asked to consider sacking some of their non-critical staff since funding has declined. In October 2018, several public universities faced a financial crisis following the government’s decision to reduce funding to the 31 institutions by Sh1 billion.
Some were unable to pay staff salaries and pension contributions. Multimedia University, Kenyatta University and Cooperative University of Kenya are among the institutions hardest hit by the funds cut, according to Auditor-General Edward Ouko in a report tabled in the National Assembly.
In the same month, Deputy President William Ruto announced that universities would receive funding based on innovation, research and the quality of their graduates, in a bid to encourage them to offer relevant courses.
University Education Principal Secretary Collete Suda also noted on Friday that the number of students in parallel programmes had declined drastically, hence the need for a review of strategies for survival.
“You have to survive, that calls for bold decisions,” Prof Suda said at Nairobi’s Safari Park hotel during a meeting of university administrators and members of the National Assembly education committee.
Meanwhile, the Commission for University Education (CUE) has given a lifeline to more than 10,000 students said to be enrolled in illegal courses after it declared the programmes valid.
There was alarm after a report by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service said the CUE had not approved the courses and that they were therefore invalid. The courses include bachelor of arts in geography, political science, community development, development and policy studies and counselling psychology. In April last year, the parallel programme, which had been the main source of revenue for public universities since 1999, was set for a major overhaul as the government stepped in to streamline education.