New funding plan to trigger competition

The government recently announced a new funding model for universities and other tertiary learning institutions. Under it, universities and TVETs will no longer receive block funding in form of grants based on differentiated unit cost (DUC) currently in use.

Instead, university funding will be apportioned to individual students according to their level of need.

This was a timely gesture from the new Kenya Kwanza Alliance administration. Kenyan public university’s administrators have been pushing for a review of the DUC model, which the government used to fund the institutions, to save them from a crippling financial crisis.

The financial situation has been so dire that there was a proposal by university managers to increase annual student fees by more than Sh30, 000, which was instantly resisted by the students and their parents, among other stakeholders.

Too often, the public debates about state education funding have not focused only on how much money should be provided to institutions but equally, or more importantly, how institutions maximise the impact of existing funding.

University funding is the bedrock of their systems. It does not only determine how much funding each institution receives but also governs many aspects of how universities organise themselves and their learning environments.

The new model will fund institutions according to not just their enrollment levels but, more fundamentally, levels of students’ socioeconomic status and their choice of programme.

The model has registered success in some universities in countries such has Australia, the United States and Canada, among others. The model is bound to promote equity in access to competitive programmes. It is fairer and more flexible and transparent on how monetary resources will be allocated.

But more fundamentally, it will trigger inter-university competition. Students will choose universities where they will undertake their programmes, unlike the current practice, where they are selected to a university based on KUCCPS criteria.

The new model will provide a fuller picture of how institutions will use their state appropriations and their mechanisms to make their programmes attractive to students.

Other areas where competition for comparative advantage will be is in such areas as level of institutional resilience, push for impactful research, engaging students to avoid unrests, motivating staff, engaging in productive partnerships, putting in place effective governance and so on to sustain their academic integrity and positive image. This will enhance quality of higher education.

Fixing education is fixing the country.

Dr Kapkiai is a lecturer in the school of Education and Human Resource Development, Kisii University. [email protected].