Today more than 90,000 eligible students will get to know their fate in education, as to whether they will secure admission to university when Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed unveils course selection.
According to the Standard Newspaper, it established that the Government is weighing its options as it emerged enrolling all students who scored C+ and above in last year’s KCSE exams would have huge cost implications.One of the options is whether the cut-off points should be raised to reduce the number of those joining universities.
Only 68,545 students were admitted to universities while 57,488 were admitted to colleges last year. Some 32,521 were admitted to crafts courses and another 4,898 into artisan programmes. This year, the number of students who qualified for university admission went up by about 20,000, which may require an additional Ksh 2 billion to to fund their education.
Certificate courses students who will be admitted to study for diploma and certificate courses will also know their fate today.Also being discussed is whether State-sponsored students should continue their studies in private universities.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had instructed the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to place some 10,000 students in private universities. Students placed in these institutions are funded at the same rate like those admitted in public universities. Last year, 12,656 students were placed in private universities. Private universities say they will need Ksh. 4 billion for admissions, including arrears owed to the institutions.
An analysis of the enrollment data shows there are students who opt to transfer from public to private universities to pursue various programs under the government funding.Over the last two years, 3,720 transfers have been recorded, among them students leaving public for private universities, or one public university to another.Last year, 2,652 student transfers were registered. Of these, 384 moved from public to private universities, another 611 moved from private to public universities and 175 moved between private universities.
Today’s exercise will see the KUCCPS portal opened for students to select courses based on their performance.
In the midst of all this, universities will also be scrambling to admit the highest number of students.Last year, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) admitted the most number of students at 4,866.