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 NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan lecturers in public universities have launched a strike to
protest against what they call the government's continued failure to implement a March deal to boost
salaries and housing allowances. Wednesday's strike piles pressure on the government after a strike
by nurses in public hospitals over the past few
months has paralyzed health care services countrywide.
It also worsens the plight of more than half a million students in 31 public universities,
since the lecturers ended a 54-day strike over
pay in February and signed a pact with the government in March.
Constantine Wasonga, secretary general of
the University Academic Staff Union, said in a
statement seen by Reuters on Thursday. The agreement provided
for a pay hike of 17.5 percent and an increase of 3.9
percent in house allowances. Government officials were not immediately available to
comment. 11,571.84) per month, including allowances, says Justine
Musila of the parliamentary watchdog website Mzalendo.
By contrast, lecturers' basic salaries range from 69,000 shillings to 200,000 shillings each month, before allowances.
A newly-qualified doctor typically earns about 156,000 shillings a month.
Kenya’s public universities have been given six years to clear pension deductions owed to the country’s workers' retirement funds or face massive
penalties and auctions. 50 million in unremitted funds,
a debt that has nearly doubled over the past five years.
RBA did not disclose the names of the six institutions bearing the largest
burden. However, the authority said the situation had major implications for the financial health of
the institutions, warning that they risk losing assets such as land and homes to
pension schemes which are demanding the funds.
The six-year ultimatum is seen as a major reprieve for
the universities which have been threatened with closure over
the issue.
48 million in pension funds. 13 million - over 20% of the total debt.
Failure to regularise the deductions could expose
the universities to huge penalties. Treasury Secretary Henry
Rotich warned government ministries in December that all state corporations not remitting workers’ pension deductions were putting at risk their funding for the next financial year which
starts in July. "We are in talks with the affected universities with a view to resolving this matter and ensuring that they make timely deductions. Universities will have to cede the properties if they lack funds to clear the arrears," said
RBA chief executive Nzomo Mutuku last week.
Educationists and analysts have blamed the state of affairs in part on poor financial reporting in universities.
Currently, the publication of financial performance reports for public universities takes as long as four years.
In addition, none of the private universities in the country
has ever made public their financials despite their handling
millions of dollars annually in student fees. In 2017, the government announced that universities would be required to publish regular financial performance reports
as part of regulations aimed at lifting the veil of secrecy that has shrouded institutions’ financial
status. This would put universities at the same level as firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange which
publish quarterly financial reports for investors, shareholders and the general public.
However, since then, little has changed. Earlier this year,
Ishmael Munene, a professor in the educational leadership
department, Northern Arizona University, United States wrote in a commentary in University World News that Kenyan universities
were facing "crunch time". "The prevailing financial crisis is the result of an interplay of two forces: macro-level policy reforms with system-wide ramifications, and micro-level institutional governance malpractice. The former encapsulates system growth, inequities in enrolment growth, quality enhancement strategies, the failure of the market model, and decreased state support, while the latter includes weak institutional systems of financial governance," he wrote.
Most of the universities in Kenya have been facing financial difficulties over the
past three years. 100 million in budget deficits arising from poor financial management
practices. In a February 2017 assessment of public universities, the country’s auditor
general listed 11 as insolvent, including the University of Nairobi.
Adequate state funding has not been forthcoming for public
universities, most of which are struggling to meet their financial obligations.
300 million lower than funds requested by universities.
Professor George Edwards delivered a lecture as a guest of Professor Simeon Sungi, LL.M.
’06, during Sungi’s international law
class at United States International University - Africa, on June 17.
Professor Edwards delivered the lecture from Washington, D.C., to his audience in Nairobi, Kenya, via
video link. Professor Sungi "was an active participant in the Program in International Human Rights Law (PIHRL), and was a PIHRL intern at the United Nations in New York" while Sungi was a student, Professor Edwards said.
Professor Edwards is the Special Assistant to the Dean for Inter-Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations and
the Carl M. Gray Professor of Law. He is also Faculty Director (Founding), of the Program for International
Human Rights Law and Faculty Director (Founding),
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba U.S. Military Commission Observation Project (MCOP) and The Gitmo Observer.
Professor Edwards is author of LL.M. Roadmap: An International Student’s Guide to U.S.
Roadmap Career Guide: An International Student’s Job Hunt After
Their U.S.
"All over the world, anyone seeking to inherit a sitting President must submit with loyalty to the head of state. One cannot make it by going roughshod with the system," the MP said.
Former powerful Cabinet minister Franklin Bett warns Ruto against undermining the President, saying he should "lie low" and carefully work out his succession plan without
provoking anyone. "He should consult widely before making any decision. He has never told me he wants to be President in 2022; I have not told him I want to be President in 2022. We have just been talking about the issues that affect our people. When it comes to infrastructure, what do we need to do?
It is important to note that the foundation is not only involved in the treatment of cardiac cases but also in the inhibiting of preventable heart conditions. The Heart to Heart Foundation has had a number of partnership programs to help in their noble cause. One of them involved a partnership involving The Heart to Heart Foundation, the Ministry of Health and Nairobi University to avert crises waiting to happen. One of the major causes of such heart conditions like rheumatic heart disease (R.H.D) is something we often tend to ignore; untreated sore throat. Steptococci bacteria cause rheumatic fever which in turn destroys the valves and could lead to heart failure. There was a major concern with the number of children seeking medical attention as a result of rheumatic heart disease..
They taught healthcare providers on proper diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease and more importantly how to nip streptococci sore throats in the bud before it escalates. It was evident that the nonchalant attitudes towards sore throats had to be checked by both parents and healthcare workers. Between 1996 and 2006 over 5000 health workers were trained in 35 sites across Kenya. They in turn spearheaded the training of other healthcare workers in their areas of operations. Through these efforts over 2 million people were reached with the important message of prevention, diagnosis, management and treatment of rheumatic heart disease. Over 300 cases of rheumatic fever were correctly diagnosed and referred for treatment during this period.
The University of Nairobi is the most funded to initiate research projects for various academic disciplines, a study has revealed. The study by CPS International showed the institution leading at Sh537.95 million followed by Kenyatta University which received Sh456 million in the period under study. The monies were cumulatively sought from the national and county government as well as from NGOs and other business entities. CPS rated Moi University in position three, having obtained Sh302 million with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology at Sh236.49 million. Also in the top ten in terms of funding is Egerton University (Sh122.35 million), Maseno University (Sh108.3 million), Strathmore (Sh100.8 million), Masinde Muliro (Sh90.57 million), Mount Kenya University (Sh86.6 million), and Aga Khan University at Sh75 million. University of Eldoret and USIU got Sh70.3 million and Sh56 million respectively.
The study revealed that KCA University got Sh51.7 million whereas the Technical University of Kenya obtained Sh50.05 million from the various sources of cash for research. The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU), Laikipia University, Kisii University, University of Kabianga, and Management University of Africa (MUA) got Sh25 million to Sh29 million. The study further highlights the funding gaps in universities' research citing that the minimum threshold for funding research at any university in Kenya is about Sh19.5 million. The research also revealed that county governments are not funding or assisting universities in their various study needs.
However, it is worth noting that university education is not among the devolved functions. All the same, the study revealed that about 94.3% of the country's universities received research funds of less than Sh10 million from the county government while 5.7% got more than Sh 10 million during the period. The survey neither stated the beneficiary universities nor the counties which allocated them the said monies. The survey demonstrated that the availability of funds to respective universities has a great impact on the number of publications, citations and academic journal referrals for each university. On this, the University of Nairobi leads in the volume of publications, citations and referrals at 39.7 per cent followed by Kenyatta University, Moi University, and JKUAT at 11.3 per cent. The study further reveals that Kenya lacks well-established research policies, a situation that has seen various works duplicated. The team advised scholars to embrace public-private-partnerships to bridge the funding gaps. They also asked universities to increase the volume of their research publications and to increase the number of staff devoted to research.
The Kenyan government has ruled out any future increase in funding to universities, setting the stage for a sharp rise in student fees. The country’s Cabinet Secretary for Education Amina Mohamed said the government can no longer afford to increase funding to state universities and institutions, which should come up with long-term plans for bridge financing. In a blow to a sector reeling from a financial crisis, university administrators have said the most practical response will be to increase fees. 265, in a plan that is expected to be rolled out in annual phases. 450 million annually which is expected to fund their operations and development expenditures. This will be a major reprieve coming at a time when they are facing a financial crunch over budget constraints and increased enrolments.
"At the moment, what the government gives universities is not enough to run them.
The funds are not even enough to pay staff. Vice-chancellors are forced
to run up and down and ensure the institutions still
operate. This hurts the quality
of education," said Vice-Chancellors’ Committee Chairperson Francis Aduol. 2 billion that is spent on basic education. 982 million to Kenyan public universities for the current financial year. 200 million lower than the amount they had requested for the period. The contribution of capitation to expenditures of the public universities declined from 67.4% in 2012 to 45.4% in 2018. During the period, staff costs have increased and funds disbursed to universities were not adequate to fund salaries.
"Given these scenarios, it is imperative that we find solutions to meet these challenges.
We must discuss these financing challenges and explore
innovative approaches to bridge the financing gap and diversify income generation. "I believe that there are opportunities in every crisis. We have to review and possibly re-engineer the dominant financing model for our public universities and propose a different funding model," Mohamed
said. Kenya’s university education has witnessed rapid growth in the past five years which has increased the numbers of student enrolments,
programmes and faculties. In 2012 the country had seven public universities, compared with
31 today. Student enrolments have also increased from 122,847
in 2008 to 586,434 in 2018, with the largest number
of enrolments (507,554) being in the public universities.
"Our progress towards achieving this vision is proportional to the advancement in the university sub-sector," said Mohamed.
University leaders such as John Struthers, chancellor at Mount Kenya University, Kenya’s largest private university by student numbers,
said the trend of declining funding would require
institutions to seek private sector funding.
"Universities the world over have to be committed to their core business - teaching, research and community outreach. I wish to underscore the role of partners in contributing towards the universities’ capitation,"
said Struthers.
Among the countries represented by the Trust are Nigeria (which founded the Nairobi-based West African Women’s Trust two decades ago),
Ghana, Gambia, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry,
Cape Verdi, Sierra Leone and Mauritania among others.
But as the Gala’s Guest of Honor, the Stanbank CEO for Kenya and East Africa observed,
the Trust is commendable for its focus on service and advancing the cause of Kenyan education.
The women have raised funds to build classrooms and a science lab in slum areas.
They’ve given out scholarship to girls enabling them to complete secondary
school and university. And currently, they’re fundraising to the Kilimani School
that’s got a special unit to serve visually impaired students.
Kenya School for Integrated Medicine is dedicated to providing an excellent education and
assist in self-employment opportunities for all who come to the college and improving the health and well-being of
individuals
and communities. It seeks to introduce the benefits of Homeopathic Medicine and Holistic
Health care to the wider community and its integration into the larger professional health community.
Read more about our Fee structure. We are the only centre
in Kenya and beyond that offers an excellence in education in Homeopathic medicine in combination with Nutrition, Community
health and HIV management. Kenya School for Integrated Medicine has been successfully
training health care practitioners for over ten years.
Our dedicated team of educators are here to serve your
needs as a student.
The UN wants all hands on deck to curtail modern slavery—a clear recognition of enslaving practices that exist even today.
Gulnara Shahinian, the first special rapporteur on contemporary forms
of slavery, says that "Women and girls who are forced to marry find themselves in servile marriages for the rest of their lives…. Ms. Shahinian was not speaking in abstract terms. In Africa the figure is 42 percent, while it is 29 percent in Latin America and Caribbean. The International Center for Research on Women, a US-based nonprofit organization that supports women in developing countries, provides further statistics showing acute situations in many African countries. In Niger, for example, 77 percent of girls marry before they are 18 years old, while in Chad the percentage is 71 percent.
In addition, there is the unending fight against racism. In 2006 Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, one of Africa’s top soccer players, memorably walked off the football pitch in protest as White supporters of a rival club chanted monkey noises at him. The good news is that the world’s sporting bodies are taking disciplinary measures against racists while at the same raising awareness of the need to stamp such attitudes out in sports. Many researchers correlate Africa’s underdevelopment with the transatlantic slave trade. Mr. Nunn is concerned about underdevelopment in Africa. 8,809 average given for the rest of the world. Without the slave trade, he argues, 72 percent of Africa’s income gap with the rest of the world would not exist.
In their research paper "The Fundamental Impact of the
Slave Trade on African Economies," Warren C. Whatley and Rob Gillezeau of Michigan University in the US concur with Mr. Nunn’s viewpoint. Resources were allocated "away from agriculture
and industrial work towards slave trade," they argue. In addition to causing depopulation, they maintain that the slave trade stunted Africa’s long-term development, sharpened divisions along ethnic and social lines and fostered a culture of violence. Nearly two centuries since emancipation began to gain momentum, the transatlantic slave trade is still an emotional subject. Kenyan academic Ali Al’amin Mazrui is championing reparations to assist Africans in Africa and in the diaspora to deal with poverty and good governance. Many key emancipation anniversaries take place this year. For the UN, scholars like Mr. Mazrui and many others, 2013 presents an opportunity both to celebrate and to refocus attention on arresting all forms of modern-day slavery.
Another thing came to me reading this over. I recalled discussing land use in Kenya’s Lake Victoria region years ago with a Kenyan professor at my college. He told me about a European multinational hoping to utilize some "unused" land for the growing of tropical flowers. He tended more toward the market solution side of things. I wasn’t so convinced it was going to be good. Anyway, at the time that situation had me thinking about the relationship between the restrictive nature of property and boundaries (borders) and the exacerbation of famine in times of drought/flood. It would be interesting to see how more flexible utilization of arable land could decrease the effects of crop adverse weather events. Mobility of farmers within regions, unrestrained by property claims or national boundaries, could allow those regional populations to naturally adjust to adverse weather. I have a suspicion we would find many famines are actually quite avoidable when controlling for the restrictive nature of national boundaries and land use restrictions vis-a-vis property.
Kenya’s Lecturers Service Fee (TSC), a authorities company which offers with human assets throughout the training sector, had tried to dam the pay rise. However Justice Smokin Wanjala stated the Supreme Courtroom "lacks jurisdiction" to rule
on a case by which the TSC had sought to problem an earlier ruling by the Courtroom
of Enchantment. "What it means is that now the teachers will be motivated to carry out their work," union chief Misori advised
RFI. Kwame Owino, chief government officer of Kenya’s Institute of Financial Affairs,
advised RFI that the federal government has a number of choices.
"The first option is if the government of Kenya had some assets that they could sell quickly," stated Owino, declaring that this isn’t very possible with the intention to meet the deadline.
"The second is to raise taxes," he stated, concluding that it’s unlikely
that the federal government would be capable to try this instantly.
"So the third option, which in my view is the most useful, would be to just raise debt, raising treasury bills off the market," stated the
Kenyan economist. Estimates put the price of the pay rise at about 15-16 billion shillings or round 125 million euros.
It’s to be phased in over 4 years with incremental will increase yearly.
If the federal government doesn’t award the pay rise this month, Kenyan academics unions have threatened to take industrial motion. "We are likely to paralyse learning in this country should the government fail to implement this," stated the KUPPET
head, explaining academics strike is their final resort.
Within the first occasion, the unions will return to court docket to power the federal government to implement the pay
hike. Kenya’s authorities has but to answer the Supreme Courtroom choice.
RFI spoke to Leah Rotich, Kenya’s performing training secretary, who stated she was
unavailable for remark. Richard Kipsang, principal secretary within the ministry of training, science and know-how, was not
reachable by phone. Nancy Macharia, the pinnacle
of the TSC was additionally not reachable on the time of
writing.
During Kenya’s national schools exams, an alarming number
of girls to be pregnant or in labour, and so couldn’t take the exam.
In just , 72 girls taking the exams were pregnant
while 38 gave birth before the test. The Conversation Africa’s Moina Spooner asked Michael
Mutua to shed light on why so many girls
are falling pregnant and what measures there are to support them.
What is the prevalence of pregnancy in schools in Kenya?
Cases of pregnancy among young girls is high. Teen pregnancy
and motherhood rates 18%. About one in every five adolescent girls
(aged 15 to 19) has either had a live birth, or is pregnant with her first child.
Rates increase with age: from 3% among girls at 15 years old, to 40% among girls at 19 years.
The consequences of pregnancy at such a young age in Kenya aren’t good.
The girls usually either drop out of school to have the child or take the risk of an unsafe abortion.
Why are girls getting pregnant? In Kenya, 11% of
teenagers are having sex before their 15th birthday. The rates in Uganda are about
the same - 10% of adolescents have had sex. The number goes up dramatically as young girls get deeper into their teens:
in Kenya an estimated 47% of teens are already sexually active before the
age of 18 - the legal age of consent.
mut.ac.ke8080mut-admission-downloads.html"> Sexual activity has been encouraged by the proliferation of mobile phones, which encourage youth to be more sexually promiscuous because of "sexting" or access to porn. Another factor is that there isn’t proper sex education. In Kenya, conservative attitudes and traditional values tend to be the norm and adults aren’t open to talking about sex or the idea of sex before marriage. This means young people don’t get the education they need to make informed sexual choices. They’re also not taught about contraception which makes them to use them. The use of contraceptives reduce teen pregnancy. But in Kenya, contraceptive use among teens has low, increasing to just 10% in 2014 from 6% five years earlier.
What type of support do these girls have during and after pregnancy? The girls have very little support. There’s a huge amount of social stigma that young girls face when they get pregnant before marriage. So a large number resort to abortion. But because abortion is illegal in Kenya, the girls unqualified abortion service providers, often in unsafe facilities. The risk of an unsafe abortion is among this age-group than any other. If they choose to keep the baby, because of the nurse or doctors’ moralistic views, discrimination at the communities and health care facilities. These facilities also don’t have services - like psychosocial support - to meet the special needs of teen mothers. What are their future prospects like? Do schools take them back in?
One of the immediate social consequences of teenage pregnancy is school dropout - 10,000 and 13,000 girls leave school each year as a result out of six million girls enrolled in school. In 1996 Kenya introduced a school re-entry policy that aimed to ensure return to school for all pregnant girls soon after weaning their babies. But this is weakly implemented as there’s a mismatch between policy and practice, with many heads of schools not aware of the policy. The policy also enough financial support to be implemented - there’s not enough money to train teachers or principals on how to reintegrate the young mothers.
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