The government has been asked to offer scholarships to students doing medical courses in private universities.

Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Board Chairman Prof Simon Gicharu says since the course is offered only in a limited number of universities, learners should be allowed to join private institutions and get scholarships there.

“The students who choose to do a course in medicine which is not available in all our universities and are admitted to private institutions, should be offered scholarships to pursue the course,” he stated.

Gicharu who is also the Mount Kenya University (MKU) Chairman Board of Directors was speaking during the handover of the newly constructed university mosque and renovated Students Centre at the Chancellor Towers grounds.

Vulnerable students

“We are saying that the vulnerable students who want to do medicine at MKU which is the only private university offering the course in the country, should get government sponsorship,” said Prof Gicharu who was accompanied by the Pro-Chancellor and University Council Chairman Dr Vincent Gaitho and the Vice-Chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi.

At the same time, the KICD official maintained that the new government funding model for higher learning has not seriously affected the operations of private universities and that there is a need to clear the air.

“It would be unfair to say that the new government funding model has affected our operations. According to the report by the Task Force, students in public universities would be getting scholarships and other support while those in private institutions get loans to meet the cost,

“For example, if a certain course costs Sh300,000, the students in private universities will be able to pay for the fees using the loan. What has been lacking is proper communication on the matter and the government should make efforts to clarify the matter,” Prof Gicharu explained. The Chairman also said the youth, particularly college and high school students, should be used as vehicles of uniting the country through various religious denominations.

He noted the MKU leadership decided to build a mosque to be used by the more than 7,000 Muslim students as a way of demystifying religious norms and bringing cohesion among Kenyans from different backgrounds.

“This is a good example of what we can do to demystify religious and other societal norms. It is rare for a Christian to build a mosque, but we did this in a bid to unite the country across religious and ethnic groupings,” Gicharu mused.