The Ministry of Education is facing a growing crisis as it addresses significant funding discrepancies affecting nearly 13,000 students. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba revealed on Friday, August 23, that the ministry is working to rectify placement errors that have resulted from widespread misclassification and data inaccuracies in the new university funding model.

“Nearly 12,958 students have applied for re-categorization, and we aim to complete this correction process within three weeks,” CS Migos stated. The application portal will remain open until December 31 to accommodate continued appeals and adjustments.

This announcement follows a troubling report from Geoffrey Monari, CEO of the University Fund, who confirmed that 127,000 scholarship loan applications have been processed, and ongoing appeals are currently under review.

However, complications arose due to limitations in the Means Testing Instrument (MTI), which led to the misclassification of around 5% of the 113,000 students enrolled in the government’s funding scheme. Head of Public Service Felix Koskei attributed these issues to fraudulent income declarations, stating, “Many students reported parental incomes below Ksh20,000, but our verification revealed significant discrepancies.”

To improve the situation, the Ministry is developing the Kenya Management Information System (Kemis), aiming to bridge data gaps. Students are urged to check their loan and scholarship awards on the Higher Education Funding (HEF) portal as universities begin a review of funding categories to ensure accuracy.