Rising university costs push students into hardship under new funding model

A growing crisis is unfolding in the country’s higher education sector as students from vulnerable families struggle to cope with the rising cost of university education under the new funding model. Despite posting top grades and securing competitive courses, some students have been forced out of lecture halls and into casual labour just to survive. The case of a University of Nairobi medicine student Evans Odhiambo, who is struggling to cope with his course due to financial difficulties, amply portrays a problem that the government has failed to find a solution to.