Over 600K Students Miss Out on University and College Placement
More than 600,000 students who were eligible for placement in higher education institutions did not apply for any of the available slots this year.
According to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), only over 153,000 students have been placed in private and public universities, with 11,000 students who qualified for degree courses choosing to take diploma courses.
KUCCPS‘ release of this year’s student placement comes at the end of a difficult exercise that began in February, when the agency encountered headwinds as it launched the new online selection process for students.
After completing the system hurdles and three application cycles, 258,935 students were placed out of a possible 895,000.
Of these, 153,274 are expected to attend public and private universities. 75,718 students will attend public and private TVET institutes, including 10,263 training to be primary or secondary school teachers.
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For the first time, the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) accepted KUCCPS placement students for this year’s calendar, with a total of 19,653 students enrolled.
Over 600,000 qualified students did not apply for placement through the KUCCPS.
“Applications to join both universities and colleges is a choice, not mandatory, because we know that there are students who choose to go abroad, join the military, or join other programs that are not under the government program,” Dr. Agnes Wahome, CEO of KUCCPS, said.
“The KUCCPS placement system gives special consideration to eligible applicants on account of gender, marginalization, and minority status, as well as the aspect of disability,” Ministry of Education Secretary Fredrick Nyambare added.
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The students placed represent only a small proportion of the available capacity in various higher education institutions. This year, 1.07 million seats were available in universities, TVETs, TTCs, and the KMTC.
At the same time, KUCCPS reports that male students continue to dominate placement in degree programs, while female students make up the vast majority of TVET placements.
Over 600K Students Miss Out on University and College Placement
