University students under the government-sponsored programs will have to pay three times the amount they have been paying as fees if a proposal by the education task force formed by President William Ruto sails through.
Nairobi Leo has learnt that the taskforce has proposed that the fees be increased from Sh16,000 to Sh52,0000.
The second report, which focuses on higher education and the reforms needed to make it better and affordable, was handed to President Ruto last week.
The first report was on CBC.
The taskforce has also proposed the government increase its funding of education at the university level.
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The Sh16,000 fee payable a year has been stagnant for decades as students under the joint admission board programme paid the same amount since the 1980s.
Many universities have been calling for an increase in the amount paid as fees by students owing to the changing economic times.
Varsities in the country have been struggling to foot their operations owing to ballooning wage bills and the cost of operations.
The report also suggests that the government writes off huge debts owed by universities to statutory bodies, which currently stand at Ksh.56.13 billion. They include deductions for PAYE, pension, NHIF, NSSF amongst others.
The report also outlines ways in which governance in universities can be improved, including ensuring that chancellor vacancies in 28 universities be filled.
The group says that while the president should still be the appointing authority for chancellors, the input of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and the university’s Senate should be sought.
