Embakasi East Member of Parliament (MP) Babu Owino has claimed that he has been locked out of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) where President William Ruto was hosting university student representatives to set the record straight on the contentious higher education funding model.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Owino was on Sunday, August 25 responding to an X user who had wished for the lawmaker to sit next to the Head of State so that he could listen to and “ask the president every question about the new funding model.”
“The brilliant MP is absent but will be very present on Twitter (X) to post from an angle of incitement,” the user named Nyakagwa Steve wrote, to which Owino replied by saying“I went but they denied me access.”
Though not explaining the reason for being denied access, the vocal Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) legislator has been vocal in advocating for students to rise and reject the contentious model in totality.
Owino, a former Student Organization of Nairobi University (SONU) leader has explicitly made it clear he is opposed to the new model, describing it as punitive.
“Student Leaders who will meet Ruto today must tell him the truth, the New university funding model is a beast that will consume our Education system.
“Our Brothers and sisters will never afford Education which they so deserve to change their lives and this country. Say No!” the MP had posted earlier in the day.
Through his official social media accounts, Owino broke down the funding model, revealing that in the 80s, the government of the day had provided grants, not loans which eased the cost of education.
“If in 1987 University Education was free, why charge Parents and comrades now?” he posed.
The funding model has been subject to controversy on many fronts as well as confusion among students as they express their opposition to being assigned a band they don’t belong to.
Under the new model, there are five bands in which students are assigned depending on the financial capacity of their families.
So many are university students opposed to the model that a section of them have threatened demonstrations to demand that the government rework the model to satisfy both parties, including the students.
Students from the University of Nairobi (UoN ) for instance announced that they will stage ‘mega’ demonstrations on Monday, September 2, 2024, a moveof opposition over the new university funding model put in place by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The UoN Students Association in a letter dated August 16 revealed that the students had grown fed up with continued abandoning by the President Ruto-led administration, expressing their disillusionment with the increase in tuition and accommodation fees under the new model, without participation by the varsity’s management.
The town hall meeting thus aimed to address the concerns and questions surrounding the new Higher Education Funding Model and came after President Ruto reportedly hosted university student leaders at State House, Nairobi, to discuss the funding model.
The President’s decision to hold this event underscored his commitment to ensuring that students are well-informed about the changes in higher education financing…CONTINUE READING>>
