Peg funding for diploma students on the ability to pay – Business Daily
Peg funding for diploma students on the ability to pay. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NMG
A technical skills shortage in the Kenyan labour market, largely attributed to the takeover of middle-level colleges by public universities in the 1990s and early 2000s, has seen the government and donors prioritise support for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in recent years.
Policy incentives offered by the administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta, including increased funding, saw some Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam candidates with university entry grades snub university admission to join TVET institutions.
The current government appears set to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, with the Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announcing last week that the government would from next year disburse capitation funds – allocated based on enrolment – to technical training institutions for all students pursuing diplomas.
But there will be concerns about the government’s ability to sustain capitation for all diploma students given the obvious failures of this State funding at public universities, including inadequate and late disbursements that have plunged the institutions into their current cash crunch.
The public universities’ struggles with these failures have prompted the University Funding Board and the vice-chancellors to propose a funding model where student capitation would be based on one’s income status.
The Ministry of Education should consider adopting this more realistic model in its plan to improve funding of technical training while ensuring sustainability.
