The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) will place 122,831 students on government-sponsored degree courses, out of 125,463 who qualified in the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
Speaking during the launch of the academic calendar for the students on Tuesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha explained that another 88,724 candidates were placed under Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs.
The figure includes 2,632 who despite qualifying for degree programs opted to join TVET institutions.
“A significant number of students with C+ have opted to join TVET and they should be encouraged, it is gratifying to noted that the negative mindset that people have had against TVET is now changing,” he said.
In the 2019 KCSE exams, 689,007 candidates were examined and 125,463 attained of C+ and above, the minimum university entry mean grade.
For those joining TVET institutions, 53,726 will be admitted to diploma, 29,112 to Craft Certificate and 5,886 to Artisan certificate courses.
The CS noted that there are available slots for government-funded placements in universities and TVET institutions, given the fact that 145,129 and 276,163 slots had been declared for the two levels of admission respectively.
Prof Magoha elaborated that of students placed in universities, 70,050 are male while 52,781 are female. TVET institutions will receive 39,695 male and 49,029 female students respectively.
He urged universities and colleges to contact their students and fast track their admissions in order to proceed with online learning in the wake of COVID -19 pandemic which necessitated the suspension of on-site learning in favour of virtual sessions.
“The Universities and colleges have been asked to contact their expected students and give them joining instructions and fast track their academic journey given most universities have continued with online learning during COVID 19 era,” he said.
The Education CS said 331 applicants with disabilities were given the top priority for their preferred courses for which they met the minimum admission requirements.
The candidates can access the placement details through their respective portals on the Placement Service website.