Parents cry foul as agency asks for money to admit students

Confusion reigns over the admission of Form Four candidates who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination last year, with parents crying foul over double charges for revision of courses.

A recent directive that the more than 16,000 students, who missed out on their preferred degree courses, pay another Sh1,000 for a fresh revision of their placement has brought the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (Kuccps) under the spotlight amid claims that the agency was using the students’ desperation to rake in millions of shillings.

Kuccps on Friday extended the second revision deadline just two months to the start of the universities’ academic calendar, creating anxiety among thousands of students who are yet to get admission.

Kuccps, the agency that is charged with admitting students to universities and tertiary institutions, had set a July 5 deadline for the revision of choices but has since extended it to July 11 to give students more time.

Kuccps chief executive John Muraguri said the decision to push the deadline was informed by the fact that a large number of students who were unable to secure their preferred degree courses were automatically chosen to pursue diploma courses.

“We have students who applied for very competitive degree courses while at the same time made applications for diploma as their last choice in the same category. Hence they were booked in for diploma when they missed out on their first choices,” said Mr Muraguri.

The selection system is computerised and picks courses for students based on the set cluster points in the order of selection.

Mr Muraguri said that any student who does not meet the requirements for their first choice is automatically picked for the next most suitable option.

He said many students had applied for diploma courses just to complete filling mandatory fields in the selection list.

“We realised that a good number of candidates chose diploma courses not as what they were actually looking for, but as a way of completing the slots that had to be filled,” he said.

Musau Ndunda, the secretary-general of the Kenya National Association of Parents, however faulted Kuccps for subjecting parents to additional charges they had not planned for.

“The Cabinet secretary for Education should intervene and save parents from this confusion that is costing them double charges,” said Mr Ndunda.

Mr Muraguri, however, defended the Sh1,000 charge for the second revision, describing it as a fresh application process that called for a new fee. Students had to pay Sh1,500 in May when Kuccps first opened the revision window.

He urged students to apply for any course that would satisfy their cluster points during this second revision, saying that the current system allows them to successfully change courses once they join university through an internal transfer process.

Internal transfer was agreed upon by all stakeholders in a meeting to enable students to cross from one programme to another with ease, he said.
Currently, students apply for their preferred courses while in school, which they revise the following year after results are released.

Kuccps says 42,000 students had so far secured admission for the degree courses with 14,000 having successfully been admitted for diploma courses.

The agency, which replaced Joint Admission Board (JAB), had come up with new placement provisions that will benefit students. For instance, for the first time, State-sponsored students will have an opportunity join private universities of their choice.

However, the 2013 candidates will not benefit from this move for lack of rules to guide the selection, with Kuccps targeting students sitting for this year’s exams.

Under this programme, the government will pay the amount of school fees determined by the university fund, with the difference being met by sponsors and the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb).

This will open the way for students to join universities like Strathmore, USIU and Daystar and still enjoy government sponsorship in a move aimed at addressing the shortage of spaces for qualified candidates.