Senator Karungo Wa Thang’wa has warned that the Tertiary Education, Placement and Funding Bill, 2026 could leave students from poor households with heavier debts by failing to guarantee scholarships for those in greatest need.
Thang’wa said the proposed law, which seeks to change how university and college students are placed and funded, does not clearly protect vulnerable and extremely needy students from taking on loans they may struggle to repay.
“This is a debate about who pays, who benefits, and whether the poorest child is protected first,” he said on Thursday.
The senator said the 2023 Presidential Working Party on Education Reform, chaired by Professor Raphael Munavu, had recommended a Variable Scholarship and Loan Funding Model based on a student's financial needs.
Under the proposed model, vulnerable students would receive 82 per cent of their education costs as scholarships and 18 per cent as loans. Extremely needy students would get 70 per cent as scholarships and 30 per cent as loans, while needy students would receive 53 per cent as scholarships, 40 per cent as loans and seven per cent from their families.
“The principle was simple. The poorer the child, the smaller the debt,” Thang’wa said.
He said the Working Party had also proposed a dedicated budget line for university scholarships and draft legislation establishing a Tertiary Education Fund to provide “loans and grants.”
However, Thang’wa said the Bill before Parliament retains the fund but changes its purpose to providing money “to be granted as education loans.”
He argued that although the word “scholarship” appears in the Bill, it does not establish a separate scholarship fund, identify a specific source of scholarship money or define categories based on financial need.
“There is no scholarship fund, no dedicated source of scholarship money and no categories of need. There is no guaranteed share for the vulnerable child, and none for the extremely needy child,” he said.
Thang’wa said the proposed system could widen the financial gap between students whose families can pay their fees and those who depend on government support.
“The child from a wealthy home can still graduate without debt, because the family pays cash. The orphan cannot. So the child with the least inherits the most debt, that is not equal access. That is poverty with a repayment schedule.So why the hurry?” he asked.
He also questioned what would happen to students already admitted under the existing funding system if the new law takes effect.
According to Thang’wa, the Cabinet Secretary had said first-year applications would initially be processed under the current needs-based model, with transitional arrangements expected after Parliament passes the Bill. He said, however, that the transition provisions focus on property, staff, assets and liabilities without clearly stating how scholarships for students already admitted would be handled.
The senator further criticised a provision allowing loan deductions of up to 25 per cent of a graduate's emoluments, including salary, allowances and bonuses.
Using a graduate earning Sh100,000 a month as an example, Thang’wa said deductions for PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and the Housing Levy could leave about Sh70,000. A maximum loan deduction of Sh25,000 would then leave about Sh45,000 for rent, food, transport and other expenses.
He also questioned the absence of a statutory interest-rate ceiling.
“The Working Party recorded HELB's undergraduate rate at four per cent. This Bill contains no rate and no cap,” he said.
Thang’wa said the potential debt burden would be especially high for students taking expensive professional courses. He cited Working Party figures showing that a pre-clinical year of medicine costs Sh360,000 and a clinical year Sh720,000, putting the cost of a six-year medical degree at about Sh3.2 million.
“If all of it is a loan, then even at twenty-five thousand shillings a month, repayment takes more than ten years, before a single shilling of interest. Under the Working Party model, a vulnerable student's loan for that same degree would be under six hundred thousand.” He said.
He stressed that the calculation was an illustration rather than a prediction.
“This is an illustration, not a prediction. But the lesson is clear. The more expensive the dream, the bigger the debt,” he said.
The senator also sought clarity on plans to raise funds through loan repayments and interest, borrowing, bonds, commercial partners and private capital.
“So if the Exchequer is not paying, then who is he, if investors come in, what return will they expect, and who guarantees it? When a graduate cannot find work, who carries the risk: the investor, the taxpayer, or the young Kenyan without a job?” He questioned.
Thang’wa wants Parliament to guarantee scholarships for vulnerable students, set and cap interest rates, clarify repayment timelines and explain how unemployed graduates will be treated. He also called for clarity on whether student-loan repayments could be pledged or securitised and demanded publication of feasibility studies, financial models and legal opinions if such plans are being considered.
“My position is this. This Bill should not pass in its current form, and not before the voices of Kenyans are reflected in it,” he said.
He urged parents, students, lecturers and graduates to participate in the public hearings and submit written memoranda before the deadlines.
“The public hearings run until 25th September, and written memoranda close on the 24th. Go. Speak. This is your law.”