President William Ruto has said his administration will from now henceforth send money to universities as scholarships and not grants.

The head of state said the move will ensure students from less privileged homes will receive 100 per cent scholarships.

“This year alone, we are giving at least 45,000 university students 100 per cent scholarships, others will receive 90 per cent and 80 per cent,” he said.

He added that his administration is focused on making education sustainable in the country and it must be possible to do so, as there is still a problem in the sector.

Ruto spoke during the United Democratic Alliance party National Governing Council meeting held at Bomas of Kenya on Friday.

“Many children from poor backgrounds don’t get opportunities to go to TVETs or universities, and that is wrong and these are old students. We must ensure that our education is equitable and available,” he said.

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“I have put in place funds to support our teachers so that our students can learn.”

The government had in July launched the New Higher Education Funding model for both scholarships and loans for students placed by Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service.

The launch followed a directive by Ruto on May 3, 2023, that sought to overhaul the higher education student funding model by aligning placement, government scholarship, and loans to the needs of students and their programme costs.

All university and TVET students who have received letters from universities and TVET colleges as per the placement from Kenya KUCCPS are eligible for funding.

Funding will be based on four criteria; choice of the programme, household income band, affirmative performance and government priority areas.

A Means Testing Instrument will be applied to scientifically determine the need levels of students.

The instrument has eight variables, which have been used over the years and have been strengthened and linked to other databases to boost reliability.

The eight variables include parents’ background, gender, course type, marginalisation, disability as well as family size and composition.

By combining these variables, it is envisaged that the State will be able to determine the needs of the various households and fund them appropriately.

Those joining TVETs will receive government scholarships up to a maximum of 50 per cent and 30 per cent in loans while their households will pay 20 per cent of the costs.

Higher Education Loans Board Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera has dismissed claims that the government will only fund 45,000 learners set to join universities for the 2023/2024 academic year.

Ringera said those who qualified to join universities will all benefit from government funding, but only 45,000 will get 100 percent funding.

“45,000 are the first two categories with 100 percent GOK funding, the rest will get 93 percent funding and family will contribute 7 percent,” Ringera told the Star in an interview on Friday.

The two categories of learners that will get full funding are the vulnerable and extremely needy.

On Thursday, Owino, through his social media account claimed that 800, 000 learners are set to join varsities this year but only 45, 000 will be funded.

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“The students who did their KCSE exams and are being admitted in different universities are around 800, 000. Of which the government’s intention is only to sponsor 45, 000 students. This means that over 750,000 students will not be sponsored,” Owino claimed.

Ringera dismissed this figure, clarifying that a total of 869,782 learners sat for last year’s KCSE examination.

He said only 173,127 scored the minimum entry grade for university which is a C+.

Of the 173,127  learners who qualified, only 140,107  applied and were placed into various programs across the public universities in the country.

Ringera urged learners to keep on applying for government funding through the Higher Education Fund website as the deadline draws closer.