A section of a building that is used as students' hostels. More than 59 residential houses in Nakuru Town have been converted into hostels. [Photo/travel.jumia.com]
Hostels owners in Nakuru are facing a bleak future as universities prepare to absorb the lowest number of students in the recent history.
Another worried lot are businessmen that have leased out their premises to universities for satellite campuses.
The campuses face closure as there would be no more students enrolling for self-sponsored programmes due to the recent reforms initiated by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i in the sector.
The ministry, this week, announced that only 70,073 students who scored a mean grade of C+ (46 points) and above in the 2017 KCSE exams could apply to join public and private universities for government-sponsored degree courses.
This low number of students, traders say, may drive them out of business.
"That will definitely affect us in future because we have turned our residential houses into students' hostels," David Wakibia, a landlord at Ngei Estate told a local daily.
Wakibia converted his three-storey building into students' hostels to take advantage of numerous satellite campuses that were opened across Nakuru Town.
After the conversion, the building could host about 600 students leaving him Sh5 million richer every month from rent revenue.
"Before I converted the two-bedroom houses into hostels, I used to get Sh15,000 from each per month. But since 2013, each two bedroom house host six students each paying Sh8,000 a month. It is good business," he told the Standard on Friday.
In the past four years, more than 59 residential houses in Nakuru Town have been converted into hostels, according to statistics from Rent Tribunal in Nakuru Town.