More than 600,000 students who qualified for placement in institutions of higher learning did not apply for any of the slots available this year.
The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) says only around 153,000 students have been placed in private and public universities, while 11,000 students who qualified for degree courses have opted to study diploma courses.
KUCCPS’ release of this year’s placement of students came at the tail end of what started out as a tumultuous exercise in February when the agency run into headwinds as it implemented the new online selection process for students.
When the system challenges had been finished and the three application cycles completed, 258,935 students, out of a possible 895,000 had been placed.
Of these, 153,274 are set to join public and private universities. 75,718 will pursue their education in public and private TVET institutions, while 10,263 will train as either primary or secondary school teachers.
For the first time, the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) also had KUCCPS place students for this year’s calendar with a total of 19,653 students joining this year. Over 600,000 students who qualified did not apply for placement through 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 programmes that are not under the government programme,” said KUCCPS CEO Dr. Agnes Wahome
“The KUCCPS placement system gives special consideration to eligible applicants on account of gender, marginalised and minority and also the aspect of disability,” Ministry of Education Secretary Fredrick Nyambare added.
