Private universities set to admit State-sponsored students in Sept
Federation of Kenya Employers chairman Linus Gitahi (left), Education secretary Fred Matiang’i and new United States International University-Africa vice chancellor Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (right) during a farewell ceremony for former vice chancellor Freida Brown in Nairobi on April 7, 2016. PHOTO | ROBERT NGUGI
State-sponsored students will now be admitted to private universities as the government moves to address congestion in public institutions of higher learning.
Education secretary Fred Matiang’i said Thursday he had asked Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to prepare a report on how the students would be admitted to the universities from September.
“Private universities have capacities and we should allow them to take a share of the students instead of confining the students to public universities that have no capacity,” said Dr Matiang’i during a farewell ceremony for former University States International University-Africa (USIU-A) vice-chancellor Freida Brown in Nairobi.
According to the 2015 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results, a total of 165,766 candidates attained the minimum university entry grade of C+ and above.
However, KUCCPS has announced that only 74,389 students would join public universities in September up from 67,790 last year and the rest will have to seek admission to private universities or tertiary colleges.
The Universities Act of 2012 allows government-sponsored students to be admitted to private universities. However, since the passing of the Act no State-sponsored student has ever joined private university.
The government in 2013 announced that it would start sponsoring students joining private learning institutions, giving candidates a wide range of choice to pursue university education.
This followed the replacement of the Joint Admissions Board — which used to select students to join public universities — with KUCCPS. The new body is also mandated to place students in private universities.
Students who elect to join private universities would receive a government sponsorship depending on the course they are pursuing.
The shift was expected to be a big win for private universities and colleges that have for years complained that the admission agency denied them the opportunity to admit top students to their institutions.
The move was expected to motivate expansion of private universities and address the shortage of space for qualified candidates.
A board created under Universities Act of 2012 was expected to establish the cost of each degree course to allow the Treasury to transfer the funds to the public universities. This is yet to happen.
Dr Matiag’i also announced that the government had reduced by half accreditation fees for private universities as well as quality assurance fee.
“We want to encourage private universities to invest in the education sector and we cannot do that if we charge them prohibitive fees. They are our partners in education and not competitors,” he said.
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