Provision of student accommodation in public universities under

PROVISION OF STUDENT ACCOMMODATION IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES UNDER PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

SITUATION ANALYSIS Kenyan students qualifying to join public universities have in the past have had to wait for two years after graduating from high school before joining Universities. The Government has managed to bring down the waiting period to one year by introducing double student intakes in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 academic years.

This increased university student enrolments, which according to the latest Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicate that student population in local public universities now stands at 363,334 in the year 2011/12, a massive four fold increase from the 97,107 recorded in 2007/08.

Accommodation is only provided to a small population of regular students who constitutes about 50% of University student’s enrolment.

This increase put pressure on university facilities and the government pledged to finance construction of the required lecture theatres to address the increased intake. However, provision of student hostels remain the responsibility of the Universities.

Introduced in 2002, free primary education resulted in the tripling of students in primary schools. This category is expected to put additional pressure on university enrolment and accommodation facilities when they graduate from high school in 2015.

Public universities, are also grappling with the challenge of providing quality campus life to a growing student population residing outside the Universities due to security issues and the students themselves not being able to fully access services offered at the University campuses such as libraries, computer labs and recreation facilities.

Student Enrolment in Public Universities

Solutions attempted Universities initially attempted to solve the problem through the establishment of private hostels off-campus, but real estate developers have taken advantage of the high demand by charging high rental fees. These facilities often being offsite means students may not access university libraries and recreation facilities full time due to insecurity concerns.

The development of onsite student accommodation hostels is thus seen as the ultimate solution of reducing student accommodation shortage and eliminate the exploitation of students through the PPP Model.

Private investors will be invited to partner with the public universities on a long term basis – minimum 25 years, in which the private player will construct, maintain and manage the student hostels recovering his investment from affordable regular remittances from the students.

The Public Private Partnership Model The model PPP project concept envisaged seeks to bring in private sector investors to provide accommodation within the University lands.

The PPP project is structured such that the private party will design, build and operate the hostels for a minimum period of 25 years.

The Universities are also exploring the participation of the private sector in provision of physical facilities such as lecture halls, incubation centres, laboratories, etc.

Project Risks and mitigations Construction

• Geological Conditions at the site • Completion requirements • Planning permissions / Third party consents

Changes in Law

• PPP projects are long term in nature and there is always a risk of changes in law during either the construction and operation phases

Public Sector appropriation

• Education is a core service for any government and accordingly public sector bodies will usually seek to retain security related approval rights for private sector personnel and rights to step-in where it considers its core education responsibilities may be jeopardized or for emergency reasons.

Damages

• vandalism remains one of the primary problems that the private sector will need to address. Arrangements are needed to address responsibility for vandalism, prevention techniques and capping arrangements

Decant for Maintenance

• There should be minimal disruption on students and staff involved in education provision, so maintenance works that involve decanting arrangements for student accommodation need to be addressed beforehand.

Premature Termination

• Because of the significant investments made in PPP projects and the associated reputations of the relevant parties, termination regimes remain one of the key points of negotiation and risks associated with PPP arrangements