Lecturer workload rises as student enrolment outpaces staffing

Public university constituent colleges recorded an even higher student-lecturer ratio from 70:1 in 2024 to 77:1 in 2025. /AI ILLUSTRATION

Lecturers in Kenya's public universities are facing growing pressure as student numbers continue to rise faster than staffing capacity, the University Statistics Report 2025 shows.

The report by the Commission for University Education (CUE) shows that university enrolment rose by 12.5 per cent from 628,541 students in 2024 to 707,150 in 2025, while academic staff increased by 6.8 per cent from 15,383 to 16,434 over the same period.

The report notes that constituent colleges recorded the highest student-to-academic staff ratio in 2025, followed by public chartered universities where the student-to-academic staff ratio deteriorated significantly during the year.

In public chartered universities, the ratio increased from 44.36 students per academic staff member in 2024 to 51.12 in 2025, a 15.2 per cent rise.