KCSE results lock thousands out of degree programmes

Kenya faces extreme levels of youth poverty and unemployment as the number of students missing out on higher education continues to rise amid faltering intervention to cushion the jobless.

It emerged on Tuesday that the number of students who will miss out on university education rose by 17,000 compared to last year.

Of the 330,000 students who sat for the 2009 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam, whose results were released on Tuesday, only 81,048 candidates got the minimum grade of C+ to qualify for university admission.

In 2008, 305,000 candidates sat the examination and 232,000 missed out on university education compared to 249,000 this year.

This is the highest number of students ever to be locked out of university training.

Experts argue that training for key professions needed to drive Kenya’s growth such as finance, teaching, accounting and engineering takes place mainly at universities.

The high lock-out rate means that only a sizeable number of youths are able to gain such skills.

Andrew Riechi, an educationist at the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), argues that job prospects and better incomes are higher for students who gain access to university and tertiary colleges, warning that the rest normally end up a social bother.

The crisis is worsened by the fact that even for top performers only 20,000, going by this year’s intake, can be absorbed in local public universities — locking out poor students who cannot afford expensive courses offered by private universities.

It is expected that the remaining 60,000 will have to fight for the few places in private universities.

Others will join tertiary colleges or pursue their aspirations through parallel degree programmes, which are turning out to be too costly for most parents.

It costs an average of Sh1.5 million for a privately sponsored student to complete a three year degree course at a local university, compared to about Sh150,000 for those taking regular classes.

Experts warn that the youth unemployment and dependency crisis is ballooning, risking Kenya’s long-term growth goals.

“Cumulatively, we should be worried because the ongoing wastage occasioned by Kenya’s inability to manage transition is the genesis of criminal activities,” said Dr Riechi.

While the Government has launched several multi-billion shilling initiatives over the past few years, including the Kazi Kwa Vijana and the Youth Enterprise Fund, experts said they are a drop in the ocean.