Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has defended the government’s proposed changes to the higher education funding model, saying they are aimed at ensuring equal access to university and college education for all Kenyan students regardless of their family’s financial status.
Speaking at Taveta KMTC Campus in Taveta Constituency, Taita Taveta County, Kindiki said the proposed legal framework submitted to Parliament for enactment seeks to guarantee full government funding for students in institutions of higher learning without discrimination based on the category of institution or their household’s ability to pay.
“We are bringing usawa ni sawa even to the new higher education funding model,” Kindiki said, maintaining that equality remains a central guiding principle of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The Deputy President explained that the proposed changes are intended to ensure that no Kenyan student is disadvantaged in accessing higher education because of their economic background.
Kindiki spoke during an inspection tour of ongoing construction works at students’ hostels at Taveta KMTC Campus, where he also announced that the national government is constructing accommodation facilities targeting more than 180,000 students in institutions of higher learning across the country.
He said the hostel construction programme is being implemented during the first year of applying the Housing Levy, as the government seeks to address accommodation challenges facing students in colleges and universities.
The Second in Command reiterated that fairness and equal development opportunities for all Kenyans and regions remain key priorities of the current administration, adding that the principle guides the government’s projects and programmes across the country.
