Friday, September 23, 2011

UASU – PSSP ad hoc Committee Stalemate

BY SHADRAK KIRONG

University Academics Staff Union (UASU) is now in a stalemate with an ad hoc committee formed by Moi University to oversee the allocation and management of Privately Sponsored Students Programme (PSSP) funds.

The lecturers who are also members of the union, are said to have boycotted a meeting that was slated for 19th September on Monday, at Moi University School of Medicine and Dentistry , which is located at the of Eldoret town, opposite Moi teaching and Referral Hospital. The agenda of the meeting was to look for a consensus between the Union and the oversight committee over the matter. This dramatic turn of events comes barely a week after the lectures stormed out of another similar meeting when they could not strike a deal.

We tried to seek for possible answers over the disagreement, and in the process we visited some of our Lectures in some departments. And the following are their detailed factual part of their story. That the current deadlock between them and the ad hoc committee, as emanated from the University trying to encroach on their 35% PSSP payments, which fall under category 1, called the service provider. The bone of contention is that, the University now wants to reduce it from 35% to 30%, which will mean that their allowances also will significantly be reduced, something they termed as “35% to 30% uncalled for”. To shed more light on the issue, they gave us some simple debit and credit accounting basics over the issue;

Out of the total PSSP funds collected in Moi University, 65% of it goes to the University, while the remaining 35% goes to UASU. The 35% which falls under the service provider category, is further sub - divided into three categories:

first one is the academic category and under it are payment for the lectures teaching services, transport, invigilation and marking of exams. Under second category are payments for administrative cost which include, payment for the Deans, H.O.Ds, timetable coordinators, administrative staff and all school co - coordinators in Moi university Main campus and all other satellite campuses like KPA, Kitale, Rongo, Kericho, Karatina among others.

The third category is payments in support of academic conferences and workshops. Included in this category also are funds for marketing and publicity, stationary and postage stamps, travelling expenses in office of Deans, expenses that gather for cost incurred when students are sent for attachment, and finally the newly introduced Dean list of Merit, where all the best students who excel in academics will be recognized and rewarded at the end of every academic year.

On the 65% lion share that the University takes, part of it is allocated as payment of school workers and other University Projects like expansion of satellite campuses. The bone of contention arising now is that the University wants to have a slice of their bread whatever the cost, by reducing their usual 35% to 30%, and thus changing the traditional rule of 65% - 35% share, to 70% - 30% share.This they said is attributed to recent reduction of Government capitation, where the Treasury decided to reduce certain percentage of funds allocated to all Public Universities in Kenya, with the reason that the Universities are to top up the deducted percentage from their respective PSSP accounts.

And to achieve this, they said that there is a plan in the offing by the University to admit the Government Sponsored Students Programme (GSSP) to Moi University Satellite Campuses, a calculated accounting tricky move they said, In that the University, might only end up paying them lump sum amount of money as token of appreciation, since they will be teaching PSSP and GSSP students in these satellite campuses, hence getting an easy way to divert the 5% from UASU to their kitty.

No comments:

Post a Comment

your comment, your voice...

Search site.