Irene Githinji @gitshee

The scramble for university slots for the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination candidates ahead of September when the next academic year starts has began.

Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) chief executive Dr Agnes Wahome yesterday said 94,275 candidates have so far been slotted to the degree courses they selected during the first phase of the placement exercise.

All applicants who have secured a programme will be notified through their student portals starting today.

“Nearly all the 2020 KCSE candidates who qualified for degree programmes applied for university places during the first revision that ended on June 11,” said Dr Wahome. 

She said KUCCPS data shows that out of the 142,540 candidates who obtained the minimum university entry mean grade of C+ and above, 131,833 candidates or 92.5 per cent applied for their preferred courses in local public and private universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Tvet) colleges.

She announced that the universities placement body will reopen the application portal to allow 32,718 candidates with C+ and above who missed out on their degree choices to reapply.

She also called on 10,707 candidates with C+ and above, who did not submit any university application to do so.

She assured that efforts are being made to track 10,707 candidates with C+ and above, who failed to apply for courses in universities “in the spirit of leaving no one behind”.   

“We do not wish to leave behind any candidate qualified to join university hence our move to allow those yet to be placed to make a second revision,” Dr Wahome said. 

She attributed the high application rate to the robust public mobilisation campaign that KUCCPS conducted online, through the mass media and in counties after the KCSE examination results were released, as the Ministry of Education had ordered. The second revision exercise will close on July 5.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has assured that the ministry has created opportunities for academic progression for all the 747,161 candidates who sat the 2020 KCSE.

New students

Technical and TVET institutions have vacancies for 331,045 new students, while public and private universities have 160,160 spaces for government-sponsored students.

“I wish to reiterate that all the 143,140 candidates who scored a mean grade of C+ and above will be absorbed by our universities and Tvet institutions by choice,” the CS assured.

The remaining 600,159 are eligible to apply for Tvet programmes offered in national polytechnics and other technical training institutions.

All institutions of higher learning declared their capacities of enrolment ahead of the selection exercise.

Magoha said the 2020 KCSE candidates can join Tvets, Teachers Training Colleges, medical training institutions and universities at exactly the same time as they have always done, effects of Covid-19 notwithstanding.

“This way, we have managed to release the candidates to higher institutions of learning on time and with great precision.

I assure all our 2020 KCSE candidates that they have a bright future – one full of hope and shorn of despair,” said the CS when he released the exam results last month.

The CS also said all candidates have a place in the country’s education story, since the government has ensured that every child pursues a career they deserve.

“We believe no insignificant child has been born in our country and we must not leave any learner behind.

The government has a duty to nurture each of the learners to pursue their dreams regardless of how low they start to the very top of the academic ladder,” Magoha said.

KUCCPS has been working with other higher education regulatory bodies such as the Commission for University Education and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority to ensure all learning institutions are prepared to enroll candidates.

This is in line with the Ministry of Education’s goal of providing fair and balanced access to quality and relevant higher education and training and the 100 per cent transition policy.