Aiming for the highest; why students will have to score more for university slot.

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CS Amina Mohammed and her Education counterpart PS Belio Kipsang in a past event.

Out of the 660,204 who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination this year, a possible 90,377 achieved the minimum university entry grade level of C+ (C Plus)cut mark.

This is according to Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) 20,000 more  (13.77 per cent increase) compared to last year’s 70,073 (11.38 per cent in 2017 examinations.The increase in number of students who have qualified present a headache to the universities and colleges placement board, who have to meet early January to look for spaces to place them.

The Ministry of Education is planning to raise the University entry cut-off grade from the current C+ in an attempt to minimize the number of students joining universities.

Reports indicate that enrolling all students who scored C+ and above in the 2018 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams will have huge cost implications to the government hence the imminent decision to slice down the number.

The number of students who qualified for university admission for the 2019 intake has reportedly skyrocketed by about 20,000, meaning that an additional Ksh2 billion may be required to fund their education.

More so, the government is, according to a reports, discussing whether State-sponsored students should continue their studies in private universities.

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Students seat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams

In 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta instructed the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to place some 10,000 students in private universities in order to increase access to institutions of higher learning.

The students placed in these institutions were funded at the same rate as those admitted in public universities.

However, private universities have stated that they will need Ksh4 billion for 2019 admissions, including arrears owed to the institutions.

On the other hand, an analysis of the enrollment data showed that there were students who opted to transfer from public to private institutions to pursue various programs under government funding.

Transfers from public to private universities were attributed to better facilities and competitive programs in private institutions.Public universities were also blamed for cases of missing marks and strikes which affect student’s performance.

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