Funding for Kenyan universities cut by Sh5 billion

The reduced funding also casts a spotlight on the survival of some universities, especially those that will now have to depend on students' fees.PHOTO: COURTESY

Universities must brace for tough times ahead after the Government cut funding by Sh5 billion.

This is contained in the 2016-2017 Supplementary Funding estimates that will push universities deeper into financial crisis, especially because they have been operating on a Sh9 billion deficit.

The reduced funding also casts a spotlight on the survival of some universities, especially those that will now have to depend on students' fees.

The cut reduces the initially approved estimates from Sh72 billion to Sh66.8 billion.

Some of the programmes affected by the reduced funding are research, science, technology and innovation, whose funding has been reduced by between Sh1 billion and Sh3 billion.

General administration, planning and support services, which had approved estimates of Sh698 million, have also suffered. The funding has been revised to Sh189 million from Sh888 million in the supplementary budget.

This may have been triggered by a report the Commission for University Education published in August last year, which noted universities were spending more than what they received from various sources.