Education ministry in bid to bail out universities from KRA debt

According to the Ministry, the issue had been raised with the Cabinet even as the government increased budgetary allocation to the higher institutes of learning.

This came as the Ministry announced that pending bills amounting to over Ksh.75 billion were being audited with plans to clear them in the coming months.

According to University Education and Research Principal Secretary Dr Beatrice Muganda, the universities are out of the woods following the financial crunch that threatened their operations.

She said that under the new funding model, the government has increased budgetary allocation while working with KRA to waive some of the pending bills.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the government allocated Ksh.82 billion to the universities as part of development and expenditure in line with the new funding model.

The PS was speaking in in Naivasha during a validation exercise for all Chancellors and their deputies on the implementation of the CBC in the universities.

She said that the Commission for University Education (CUE) has issued guidelines of the new curriculum before 2029 when students under the new system would report to universities.

CUE CEO Prof. Mike Kuria noted that funding for universities was a global issue that would be resolved through grants and research.

He said that ahead of introduction of CBC to universities, they are working closely with donors and seeking linkage with industries for further funding.

Kuria further noted that the commission has already developed guidelines to train students leaving universities as they would later teach the incoming CBC students.

Kuria revisited the planned move by the Ministry to phase out training of diplomas and certificates in universities noting that all that mattered was quality education.