Lead image for MPs pushing funding, governance overhaul.
The National Assembly's Departmental Committee on Education has begun a consultative review of four key educational reform Bills aimed at restructuring student funding.
The MPs are also pushing to strengthen governance in learning institutions and aligning Kenya's education laws with recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
The committee, chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly, met officials from the Ministry of Education led by Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba to scrutinise the proposed legislative changes and assess their legal, policy and financial implications before the Bills are considered by Parliament.
Among the proposals receiving the greatest attention is the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, which seeks to overhaul the financing of higher education by creating a single funding agency.
The Bill proposes the merger of the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), the Universities Fund Board and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Funding Board into one institution to be known as the Tertiary Education Funding Authority (TEFA).
According to the Ministry, the new authority will manage all aspects of higher education financing, including scholarships, student loans and institutional funding, with the aim of improving efficiency, eliminating duplication and ensuring equitable distribution of resources.
The proposed law also introduces a unified funding model based on means testing.