Ruto to Hold Town Hall Meeting Over Teachers’ Strike, University Funding Model

President William Ruto is scheduled to address the nation on Sunday evening regarding the imminent teachers’ strike.

A statement from the Ministry of Education indicates that Dr Ruto will address “pertinent issues on education” during a town-hall meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.

The announcement comes as the government makes last-minute efforts to prevent the strike, which has been called by the two major teachers’ unions—the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).

Both unions have instructed teachers to boycott the reopening of schools on Monday, August 26, 2024, until further notice.

In fact, the National Executive Council (NEC) of Kuppet, moments ago officially endorsed the teachers’ strike.

In a decisive vote, 68 NEC members supported the job boycott, with only 2 members opposing it.

The university funding model has caused uproar over the last week with students threatening to take to the streets.

The model allocates scholarships and loans to university and TVET students based on their level of need, as determined by their family’s monthly income.

The Ministry of Education uses the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) to assess the appropriate financial assistance for each learner. Based on the results, students are placed into five bands according to their level of need.

The Bands

Under the Means Testing Instrument (MTI), students are placed into five bands based on their family’s monthly income, which determines the level of financial assistance they receive:

Band 1: Families with a monthly income up to Sh5,995. The scholarship will cover 70% of the student’s costs, and a loan will cover 25%, bringing total government support to 95%. Parents are expected to contribute 5%, and the student will receive an upkeep loan of Sh60,000.

Band 2: Families with a monthly income up to Sh23,670. The scholarship will cover 60% of the costs, and a loan will cover 30%, resulting in total government support of 90%. The family is responsible for contributing 10%, and the student will receive an upkeep loan of Sh55,000.

Band 3: Families with a monthly income up to Sh70,000. The scholarship covers 50% of the costs, and the loan covers 30%, resulting in total government support of 80%. The family contributes 20%, and the student receives an upkeep loan of Sh50,000.

Band 4: Families with a monthly income up to Sh120,000. The scholarship covers 40%, and the loan covers 30%, totaling 70% in government support. The family contributes 30%, and the student receives an upkeep loan of Sh45,000.

Band 5: Families with a monthly income above Sh120,000. The scholarship covers 30%, and the loan covers 30%, providing 60% in total government support. The family contributes 40%, and the student receives an upkeep loan of Sh40,000.