Kenya’s first-ever fully-fledged virtual university will ride on limited operational expenses to cut the cost of accessing higher education by up to 75 percent, President William Ruto has said.
The President, who spoke on Thursday when he awarded a charter to the Open University of Kenya (OUK) said he had together with the newly appointed chancellor, James Mwangi, developed a framework that will see training costs fall to a quarter of what conventional institutions charge.
“The vice chancellor had initially told me that it is going to cost half of what it would cost ordinarily in a normal university. But we have agreed with (chancellor) James that we don’t want it to cost half, we want it to cost a quarter and he has already told me how we are going to do it,” Dr Ruto said.
The head of State said the move is in line with Kenya Kwanza’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) as it would open up access to university education to needy citizens.
“Today Kenya makes history by flinching open the door of the university for everyone who wishes to receive higher education from the convenience of their homes, offices, kiosks, farms or other hustles,” Dr Ruto said.
“Those who do not wish or cannot afford to abandon their other interests in order to pursue university education can now enrol on more convenient terms.”
The digital university plans to admit its first cohort of students from next month. It is expected to charge between Sh10,400 and Sh10,900 per module, depending on the course, according to a report presented by the technical committee that drafted the road map for its establishment.
Post-diploma courses had been projected to cost Sh130,000 per year in the report. At the OUK, which is domiciled within the Konza Technopolis in Machakos, the total number of modules taken by a full-time student will be between four and six.
President Ruto said the government had secured up to Sh100 billion from unnamed development partners to develop Konza phase two for the next five years.
