The Kenya University and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) CEO Dr. Agnes Wahome has clarified why 9,673 students who qualified for degree courses opted to apply for diploma courses.
In an interview on Tuesday, August 1, Dr. Wahome said most of these students did not qualify for the courses they applied for at degree level and opted to pursue the same programs at diploma levels.
“You find a student who would like to pursue competitive courses like Mechanical Engineering, Pharmacy, Architecture or Quantity Survey and they have a C+.
With C+ they cannot get these courses at degree level, so they choose to take the same program but at a diploma level,” she said.
Further, Dr, Wahome said these students are assured that they will get some credit when they get to the University.
This, she says will not take four years in the university after spending three years at diploma level.
“I can say with certainty that a good number of our students who have taken diploma programs, it’s because they could not make it for the same program at degree probably because of the Mathematics and Science requirements, and therefore opt to start at a lower level,” said Dr. Wahome.
Varied Opinion on KUCCPS
However, Dr. Emmanuel Manyasa, Executive Director Usawa Agenda, raised concerns on students with degree qualification applying for diploma courses.
Dr. Manyasa opined that the government is convincing students to join TVETs after many years of neglecting vocational training and prioritizing university education.
“We seem to swing in waves. There was a time we were closing middle-level colleges and turning them into universities. Now we are swinging everyone into TVETs.
TVETs have invested, but they cannot take in the numbers of those who have qualified to go to TVETs,”he said.
Further, he questioned why the government is pushing students with degree qualifications to apply for TVETs, yet the institutions cannot contain all the students who qualify for vocational training.
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Parents Role in KUCCPS Placement
In addition, the KUCCPS boss said many parents participated in the course selection exercise because of the cost aspect of the different courses.
“We had discussions with the parents because it is just about going to the University, but it’s what do you really want to do and how much is it going to cost the household,” she said.
Also, Dr. Wahome emphasized that most of the students who applied for TVET courses, 99 percent, had knowledge before making that decision.
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KUCCPS Placement Breakdown
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu on Monday, July 31, released the KUCCPS placement results for 2022 KCSE candidates.
Machogu said that only 285,698 submitted applications for placements, out of the 870,561 candidates who were eligible for placements in universities and colleges.
Out of the candidates who applied, 285,167 candidates secured places in degree, diploma, and arts courses in 282 training institutions.
“140,107 were placed in university programmes as 130,484 were placed in public universities and 9,622 to private universities.
144,500 were placed in TVETs and 560 in secondary teacher training colleges. 9,673 who qualified for degree courses opted to be placed in TVET institutions.” he said.
The candidates can get their placement results by sending their KCSE index numbers via SMS to 20842.
The results can also be obtained on the KUCCPS portal.
