Parallel coursed bring in the cash for universities

By Caroline Theuri

Diminished government funding in public universities has forced them to come up with innovative ways of generating income to sustain their academic programmes.

One of these ways is the parallel degree programmes.

These are programmes being offered to mature students not selected through the Joint Admissions Board (JAB) for government-funded regular courses.

Many of its beneficiaries are already working but need the academic papers to advance their careers.

One of the advantages of the parallel degree programmes is that it has widened access of university education for Kenyans.

Parallel degrees started with a policy introduced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund through the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) in the 1980’s.

The aim of the policy was that no deserving student should be denied education on the basis of financial inability.

However, the policy also required the government to drastically reduce its involvement in state corporations, including higher education.
This forced public universities to develop mechanisms for financial survival.

Cost Sharing

In June 1991, the government introduced the current cost-sharing scheme where students are required to either pay in full or in part through a direct charge, depending on their perceived need for tuition, food and accommodation.

This was an acknowledgement that even though student enrolment was increasing, government funding to universities was diminishing.

In 1996, as government funds dried up, the University of Nairobi set up the University of Nairobi Enterprise and Service (UNES) to manage its finances.

One of its mandates is to coordinate the operations of the UoN’s income generating sectors, such as the parallel degree programmes.

For instance, according to the 1998 budget allocation estimates to public universities by the Ministry of Finance, in 1997, the UoN was allocated Sh38.7 million.

Attract and retain lecturers

In 1998, the allocation was Sh34.4 million.

Vice-Chancellor Prof George Magoha says the advantage of parallel programmes cannot be underestimated.

“The parallel programme is what has made UoN survive as government funding is not enough.

In my tenure as VC, the programme has enabled the university to attract and retain lecturers who would have otherwise been poached by international universities,” he said.

Prof Magoha added: “UoN’s infrastructure, that is halls and laboratories over the last nine years are all because of parallel programmes.”

Students enrolled in the parallel programmes pay the full cost of these offerings and do not receive any form of government sponsorship, which is in line with the market model of financing higher education.

According to a 2007 report titled Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, there are many benefits of the parallel degree programme in public universities.

Missed Out

According to Dr Kilemi Mwiria in his 2007 paper titled Reforms Related to University Financing, 17,000 secondary school graduates missed out on university admission every year before the introduction of parallel degree programmes in 1998.

About 1,200 were absorbed in private universities while 3,000 travelled abroad to join foreign universities.

Therefore, parallel degree programmes have enticed those who would have gone abroad for study are now enrolled in local universities.

At Moi University, for example, parallel programme enrollment increased from 370 in the 1998/9 academic year to 1,678 in 2001/2.

The programme also offers those in employment the chance to further their education through evening and weekend classes.

Many of them are financing their studies with loans from banks like Kenya Commercial Bank which have introduced tailor-made products such as Masomo Loan.

Another benefit is that teachers wishing to upgrade their teaching skills may attend classes during the April, August and December holidays when their students are away through the school based (parallel) programme.

Furthermore, parallel degree programmes eliminate the problem of student accommodation.

This is often a prerequisite for public university admission at an undergraduate level for the regular programme.

According to David Mataen in his 2012 book, Africa: The Ultimate Frontier Market, public universities also become self-sustaining in their funding of most of the administrative, research and business development programmes, hiring and retaining faculty.

Due to the parallel programmes, the government has reduced its funding to public universities.

According to the 2003 Government of Kenya Economic Survey, the government sponsors only 55 per cent of the total student enrolment in public universities.

According the report, by 2007, UoN had generated over Sh800 million annually.

At MU, some Sh103 million was raised in the 2000/01 financial year.

Currently, all the 17 schools, three faculties, and seven institutes of UoN implement the parallel degree programme.
But the programme has its challenges.

Gender Inequality

According to Michael Wainaina in his 2008 book, Gender in Nascent Module II Programmes in Kenya Public Universities, parallel programmes promote gender inequality.

Men who are economically endowed benefit more than women.

The 1997-2010 Master Plan on Education and Training in Kenya estimates that females are under-represented in science, mathematics and technology-based courses in universities and tertiary institutions.

He also accuses public universities of “sidelining important issues to cash in on a population with an ever-increasing appetite for continuing education.”
In 2009, the Public Universities Inspection Board recommended that universities merge parallel courses with regular ones, by eliminating the prerequisite of bed space for admission.

However, the vice-chancellors criticised the recommendation, terming it as unworkable.
“It would work if an in-depth study were done to find out if it was practical. Otherwise, no university today can survive only on government funding.

Financial Survival

Parallel programmes and research grants have been our financial survival,” Prof Magoha said.

Another criticism is that parallel degree programmes have watered down the quality of education.

“This is a misconception that should be cleared.

The parallel programme has merely increased access to education for those who would otherwise have had no chance to gain university admission.

They are then taught by the same lecturers that teach the regular ones,” says Prof Magoha.