Varsity intake drops as TVET student numbers increase by 32 percent

Student enrolment in public and private universities dropped by 1.7 per cent to 513,182 partly on reduction of number of students scoring minimum entry grade of C+.

Fresh data released by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) show that student population has hit the lowest in three years, even as enrolment in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions soared.

“This decline is partly attributed to the reduction in number of candidates scoring a minimum university entry score of C+ (plus) and above in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations since 2016,” says the KNBS in the Economic Survey 2019.

Enrolment for both male and female students in public universities dropped by 1.8 per cent and 5.2 per cent in 2018/19 academic year, respectively.

The drop piles pressure on the many universities already straining to meet the huge budgets required to sustain expenses such as lecturers’ salaries.

The number of public university campuses established reduced from 168 to 111 in 2018, partly due to closure of campuses for failure to meet the accreditation requirements, the survey notes.