The State Department for University Education has a mandate of developing policy for University education, research authorization, dissemination and inventory.
The budget for State Department for University Education has been growing from Ksh. 72.1 billion in FY 2016/2017 to Ksh. 111.86 billion in FY 2018/2019.
The University Education in Kenya has been facing a myriad of challenges such as university staff industrial action, inadequate human resources and decrease in student enrollment due to end of Module II programs.
According to a salary survey by salaryexplorer.com, lecturers in Kenya are paid between Ksh. 93,500 to Ksh. 275,000 per month. In 2019, professors in Kenya were pushing for better pay. Full professors were demanding to be paid Ksh. 1.5 million monthly salary.
The university teaching profession has also been pushing for retirement age to be set at 74 years. Currently, University Councils have the discretion to fix the retirement age. For instance, at Egerton lecturers retire at 65 years while at Kenyatta University the retirement age of lecturers is set at 75 years of age.
For many years pundits have raised the issue of funding university research in Kenya. Due to poor funding for research many Kenyan scholars are not embarking on research. According to a research by CPS Research International, Kenya allocates just 0.8% of GDP on research related activities. The UNESCO recommended proportion is 2-3% of Gross Domestic Product.
In FY 2020/2021, the State Department for University Education has a proposed budget of Ksh. 111.5 billon out of which Ksh. 93.7 billion will be for University Education which is a decrease from Ksh. 97.6 billion in FY 2019/2020.
Research, Science, Technology and innovation programme has a proposed budget of Ksh. 1.3 billion in FY 2020/2021 which is lower than Ksh. 2.2 billion allocated in FY 2019/2020.
This is a clear sign that the mandarins at the National Treasury do not care much about research at the Kenyan Universities.
Is university research important after all?
Research is very important for any country. Research generates new knowledge, leads to professional excellence and brings out leaders from ordinary people. Considering the low level of investment in research we can easily conclude that we lack all of the above until that day when we will decide to invest sufficient resources on research programs.
Now it your turn to take action, write an email or Tweet the Cabinet Secretary for Education in Kenya as well as petition the National Assembly to consider making resources available for research, Science, Technology and Innovation at the Kenyan Universities. Ksh. 1.3 billion is a shame!
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