The Universities Fund has unveiled the institutional portal and donations platform that are expected to revitalise resource mobilisation and promote effective and data-driven funding of students.
The Universities Fund Institutional Portal, launched on October 14 at UF offices, will strengthen fairness, collaborative and evidence-based funding of all university students.
Speaking during the launch, Higher Education and Research Principal Secretary Dr Beatrice Inyangala underscored that the system will weed out multi-funding, making sure no deserving student is deprived of financial assistance.
Dr Inyangala emphasised the pivotal role digital transformation is playing in creating smart systems that promote transparency and efficiency.
“As we all know, funding reform is only as strong as the data behind it. Without accurate data, accountability weakens. Without transparency, confidence erodes. And without systems, sustainability falters,” she said.
The step, she stated, will provide universities with a standardised and secure platform for submitting and validating students’ and institutional data.
The platform captures the financial journey of the students by displaying details of the number of scholarship applications, amount disbursed to institutions and pending or complete applications.
Over the years, the more than 40 public universities have been grappling with bureaucracy, data inaccuracies and inconsistencies born out of manual submission, resulting in poor funding of students.
Through the new system, money disbursed to universities will be accounted for and traceable, thereby enhancing prudency.
“For decades, university funding in Kenya was like navigating with an old map — sometimes useful, but often outdated. Today, we step through this new portal armed with a compass of data and a lens of intelligence that allows us to see clearly, plan better and act faster,” Dr Inyangala added.
At the same time, she billed the UF Donations Platform as a progressive and long overdue move that will ease overreliance of the institutions on Exchequer funding.
Consequently, Dr Inyangala called upon stakeholders to directly support the institutions in priority areas of research and innovation, special needs education and climate action through philanthropy and partnerships.
Dr Inyangala urged stakeholders to take up a collaborative approach in bolstering the provision of quality education. The donations portal is a panacea to the dwindling government funding to universities.
“This platform opens a new frontier — where alumni, corporations, foundations, and individuals can directly support our universities in areas like research and innovation, special needs education, and climate action. It allows us to convert goodwill into growth, and generosity into opportunity,” she said.
On his part, UF acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Edwin Wanyonyi said the systems will support efficiency from data submission and validation to reconciliation and reporting, and boost the organisation’s resource mobilisation efforts.
Dr Wanyonyi disclosed that the Fund has been relying on data submitted by universities in Excel sheets and other varied formats, leading to funding delays.
“Designed as a comprehensive digital ecosystem, the portal enables universities to manage data submissions, funding validations and refund processes, efficiently and transparently,” he said.
He added that the system aligns with the Government’s Digital Transformation Agenda, Public Finance Management Act of 2012, Data Protection Act of 2019, and Universities Fund Strategic Plan 2023–2027.
Equally, Vice-Chancellor’s Committee of Public Universities in Kenya Chairman Prof Daniel Mugendi congratulated UF for embracing reforms in the delivery of its mandate.
Prof Mugendi described the portal as innovative and that it will help to ensure needy students are supported
He praised the Student-Centred Funding Model for promoting accountability and transparency in the allocation of funds to students, assuring UF of their support in advancing the course of higher education in the country.
