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Crisis as 29 Public Universities Lack Chancellors & VCs

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Crisis as 29 Public Universities Lack Chancellors & VCs

Crisis as 29 Public Universities Lack Chancellors & VCs

At least 29 public universities in Kenya are experiencing a crisis as they lack substantive chancellors and vice-chancellors to oversee their operations.

The affected universities have had their critical responsibilities performed by the chairpersons of their respective university councils despite Section 38(5) of the Universities Act stating that they should serve in an acting capacity for a period not exceeding three months.

Among the universities without substantive chancellors are Moi, Kibabii, Kabianga, Rongo, Tom Mboya, Karatina, and Jaramogi University of Science and Technology.

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Also included in this list are Tharaka, Technical University of Mombasa, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Maseno, Taita Taveta, Kaimosi Friends University, Chuka, Cooperative University of Kenya, Kirinyaga, Laikipia, South Eastern Kenya, Garissa, Technical University of Kenya, Murang’a University of Technology, Kisii, Maasai Mara, Multimedia, Masinde Muliro, University of Embu, Alupe University, University of Eldoret, and Meru University of Science and Technology.

Furthermore, the situation has been made more critical because ten serving VCs are set to retire by December. The absence of the Chancellors and VCs has far-reaching negative effects on the fortunes of a university.

Section 38(1) of the Universities Act states that every university should have a chancellor whose functions include being the titular head of the university, conferring degrees, and granting Diplomas, certificate, and other awards in the name of the university.

Vice-Chancellors, on the other hand, are the academic and administrative heads of every university.

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They take overall responsibility for the direction, organization, administration, and programs of the university and have such other responsibilities and duties as may be provided for in the Charter.

The large number of public universities comes at a time when the institutions are staring at accumulated debts which stood at more than Sh56.1 billion as of June 2022.

The accumulated debt also includes payments for part-time lecturers and contractors, among others. Universities owe contractors Sh1.4 billion, part-time lecturers Sh4.5 billion, suppliers Sh4.8 billion, and Saccos Sh4.1 billion.

Under the differentiated unit cost (DUC) funding method, the government is expected to fund 80 percent of university education costs while the remaining 20 percent is to be generated internally by universities.

The Ministry of Education has challenged cash-strapped public universities to find alternative sources of funding, including raising tuition fees.

According to data from the Universities Fund (UF), most public universities are on the verge of collapsing due to indebtedness and inability to pay statutory deductions, such as Pay as You Earn taxes, Sacco and bank loan repayments, and remittances to NHIF and NSSF for health insurance and retirement benefits, respectively.

UF Chief Executive Geoffrey Monari explained that the agency considers a number of parameters, including staff costs, student/staff ratio, student numbers, cost of infrastructure and operations, student load type, as well as levels of the programs while allocating budgets to various universities.

Some of the proposed funding framework components include capital grants allocation criteria and performance-based funding.

Crisis as 29 Public Universities Lack Chancellors & VCs

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