Matiang’i is to Blame for Broke Universities – Sossion
Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has blamed the financial crisis in universities on decisions made by Fred Matiangi when he was the Minister for Education.
Sossion stated that during Matiangi’s tenure, policies were put in place that lowered the transition of students to university.
He explained that the restriction meant that self-sponsored students who could not join public universities, went to other private institutions.
“Matiangi restricted the transition of form fours to university to 10 percent of the candidature. That brought an end to module two, which consisted of self-sponsored students who would pay the full amount of fees for their education,” Sossion stated.
Due to the reduced number of self-sponsored students in government universities, Sossion stated that the move affected funding in the institutions leading to huge debts.
By the end of 2022, Kenya’s public universities had a cumulative debt of Ksh56 billion as most institutions struggled to remain afloat.
“The move to accommodate self-sponsored students funded the universities. That is how funds are generated all over the world,” Sossion stated.
In 2017, the Ministry of Education, under the leadership of Fred Matiangi, capped the university entry grade at C+ to enhance the quality of university education in the country.
However, this decision, according to Sossion, had a negative impact on the funding of universities as it reduced the number of self-sponsored students in public universities.
Addressing the issue of the privatization of universities, Sossion noted that the government had no plans of privatizing any public universities in the country.
“What we planned in the chatter is what is going to be implemented. There is nowhere in that document that talks about the privatization of universities,” Sossion explained.
He added that instead, the government had put in place plans to enhance university funding and improve the management of the universities.
However, on Tuesday, January 24, Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria announced that the government had put in place plans to begin the privatization of some of the country’s public universities.
Kuria stated that privatization was the only solution to save some of the institutions of higher learning that had been crippled by massive debts.
According to CS Machogu, the number of candidates with a minimum university entry qualification of Grade C+ and above rose to 173,345 (19.03 per cent) in the year 2022 KCSE Examination compared to 145,776 (17.55 per cent) in 2021.
In conclusion, Sossion believes that the financial crisis in universities is a result of decisions made by the former Minister of Education, Fred Matiangi, which restricted the transition of students to university and reduced the number of self-sponsored students in public universities.
This, in turn, affected the funding of universities leading to huge debts. Sossion also denied the rumors of the privatization of public universities, stating that the government had put in place plans to enhance university funding and improve the management of the universities.
Matiang’i is to Blame for Broke Universities – Sossion
