Why universities need centralised data management system
Lack of data on university students has led to underfunding, plunging some institutions into financial problems.
The Ministry of Education and public universities will develop and implement a centralised university data management system to streamline the never-ending problem of data discrepancies in the institutions.
This follows the revelation that the ministry cannot authoritatively say how many students in universities are under the government sponsorship programme.
The lack of data on university students at the ministry has led to underfunding by the National Treasury that has seen some institutions plunge into financial woes.
While meeting with the National Assembly Committee on Education and Research in Mombasa early last week, vice chancellors of public universities and ministry officials agreed that a data management system will resolve issues of funding and also scale down corruption and management of funds in the universities.
“Develop and implement a centralised university data management system to address the problem of data discrepancies,” read the resolutions signed by the National Assembly Education and Research Committee chairperson, Florence Mutua.
The Ministry of Education will establish a data management system similar to the National Education Management Information System (Nemis) used to allocate capitation funds for learners in primary and secondary schools.
Government funding
Through the system, only students whose data will be captured will receive government funding. Universities will be required to key in the data of students after admission and the ministry will thereafter track it until the student graduates.
The data management system will also be used to prevent allocating money to ‘ghost’ students and to track funds sent to universities from the National treasury.
On its part, the National Treasury was asked to progressively provide funding amounting to Sh1.6 billion occasioned by data discrepancies in the financial year 2018/19 to affected universities
“The Ministry of Education and the Education Committee to explore the possibility of re-allocation of funds within the sector to match the growth in funding level in the sector,” the report reads.
The meeting involved university stakeholders, among them public universities, private universities, the Commission for University Education the National Commission for Science Technology and Innovation and the University Funding Board (UFB).
Others who attended the meeting to unlock the financial crisis in public universities were the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), the Kenya National Innovation Agency, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placing Services and National Research Fund.
Among the issues the stakeholders discussed included coming up with sustainable financing of higher education and policy on placement of government-sponsored students in private universities. Also discussed was the accreditation and supervision of academic programmes in public universities, which are facing an acute financial crisis, with some forced to lay off members of staff in 2020 to stay afloat.
The stakeholders also resolved that government undertake human resource audits in public universities and come up with a framework to progressively right size as well as develop and implement policy on staff rationalisation for universities towards realising fit-for-purpose staffing.
Postgraduate students
The Ministry of Education was also asked to spearhead the review of the differentiated unit cost formula to take care of postgraduate students. Together with the UFB, it will also ensure equity in funding to both public and private universities.
The stakeholders agreed that universities must have resource mobilisation strategies including developing policy to guide them on borrowing, for cabinet consideration.
Individual universities are further to explore outsourcing of non-core functions such as hostels and catering services, security.
To address increasing student’s tuition fee, the government agreed to enhance allocation to HELB to support more students. The National Treasury, Ministry of Education and the Education advised public university vice chancellors that any review of university fees paid by students should consider the current economy - “Any fees review should take into consideration the performance of the economy at that time given the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic on the economy,” reads the resolutions.
Currently, Helb gives a minimum of Sh37,000 and a maximum of Sh60,000 as loans to students annually.
Due to financial crisis in universities, vice chancellors had proposed a threefold increase of tuition fees from Sh16, 000 to Sh48, 000 annually. Public universities vice chancellors committee chair Prof Geoffrey Muluvi had told the MPs that the current rate was set in 1989 and has never been revised.
Further, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury resolved to establish an Innovation Fund in collaboration with private sector to support establishment of incubation hubs, innovation hubs and fund scale up of university startups, hence creating an enabling ecosystem for Research and Innovation.
