NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 20 – Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has hit back at former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over his continued criticism of the government’s university funding model, challenging leaders opposed to the reforms to offer alternative solutions instead of merely condemning the programme.Ogamba said the current system of financing higher education was unsustainable and defended proposed changes that seek to transform university funding into an investment in students’ future careers.Speaking at the International Leadership University on Thursday, the CS appeared to take aim at Gachagua, who has repeatedly criticised the government’s higher education funding model and previously argued that the former Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) system was working and did not need to be replaced.Gachagua has also accused the government of making university education more difficult to access, saying students were struggling to obtain funding under the new arrangement. In February 2025, he said the previous HELB system had worked well and questioned the decision to replace it.Ogamba, however, maintained that the government was pursuing a fundamentally different approach aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of higher education financing.He said the proposed amendment Bill would introduce an investment approach in which the State would consider the eventual careers and earning potential of students when determining how higher education is financed.“We said that education is an investment, not just a social good. We decided that we were not only funding the student, but also their future career,” Ogamba said.He cited students pursuing law, medicine and engineering, saying the government was seeking to invest in their education with the expectation that they would contribute towards the cost once they entered the workforce.“For instance, law students will become lawyers and medicine students will be doctors. So we said, if it is an investment and we are funding an engineer, the means testing should be for the engineer,” he said.Ogamba said the proposed changes would also make higher education funding attractive to private-sector financiers, allowing them to invest in the system and earn returns.“What that did was to open doors to the private sector to view the model as a bankable investment. We are therefore able to fund higher education of students based on what they will become,” he said.The CS argued that combining government resources with private-sector financing would enable the State to support every student admitted to an institution of higher learning.His defence comes as the government seeks legislative backing for further changes to higher education financing through the proposed Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2026. The Bill proposes changes to the management of student funding, including the establishment of a new authority to oversee loans, scholarships and other aspects of tertiary education financing.Gachagua was among leaders who had raised concerns over the government’s new funding model even before his removal from office. In 2024, while serving as Deputy President, he called for reforms to the model and urged the government to listen to students and other stakeholders.He later became more critical of the programme after leaving government, saying he had opposed the model because of concerns raised by parents and students.Ogamba challenged leaders who continue to oppose the government’s approach to provide substantive alternatives, rather than criticising the programme for political reasons.“We need you speaking the truth to power respectfully and correctly with a solution towards what you are challenging. We do not want a society where people just speak for the sake of it,” he said.The CS maintained that the proposed reforms were designed to expand access to higher education while addressing the financial pressures facing universities and ensuring that the funding system remains sustainable in the long term.