Universities to pick students directly under proposed law
Students revise at the University of Nairobi. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE
Public universities and colleges will select and admit students directly if a government-backed Bill that takes the role away from a single agency becomes law.
The Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by Majority Leader Aden Duale strips the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) of the mandate to admit students and places it on respective universities and colleges.
The decision could throw the quality of education into a crisis due to lack of a clear policy on how the universities and colleges will admit the students, analysts say.
KUCCPS will now be reduced to developing career guidance programmes for the benefit of universities and students.
“The admission and placement of students to universities or colleges shall vest in the respective universities or colleges,” states the Bill.
The Universities Act established the KUCCPS which includes two vice-chancellors, one from private and another from a public university.
It replaced the Joint Admissions Board (JAB) — which was selecting students to join public universities — in February 2014. The agency is tasked with coordinating and placement of students in public universities and colleges and ensuring fairness, equity and openness.
KUCCPS is also responsible for placing students in private universities. Removing the role of admitting students from KUCCPS looks set to affect plans to have government sponsored students join private universities.
Motivate expansion
The government announced in 2014 it would extend the benefits of subsidised education beyond public institutions in a policy shift that is expected to motivate expansion of private universities and address the shortage of spaces for qualified candidates.
This was expected to take effect this year.
This means that some of the 123,365 candidates who scored C+ and above in the KCSE examination results released last week can now opt to join the likes of Strathmore, St Pauls and Daystar universities and still enjoy government sponsorship.
Allowing universities to admit students could create a fertile ground for corruption and interference by politicians and top government officials seeking space in top institutions and popular courses like medicine, architecture, engineering, computer science and actuarial science, analysts say.
This arrangement could make it difficult for some universities, especially the new ones, to attract students for unpopular courses.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
