By AUGUSTINE ODUOR
Members of Parliament want university admissions revised to allow candidates to pursue courses whose subject combinations they performed well.
The legislators also want Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) streamlined and made part of primary education and deliberate measures put in place to enhance quality education.
The more than 20 MPs gathered in Naivasha to discuss the major education Bills and policies called for reforms in the Joint Admission Board (JAB) to accommodate diversity of learners and also ensure they are accorded opportunities.
They said it is useless for a student wishing to study engineering course to be required to have scored an A in Kiswahili yet he has passed the relevant subject clusters.
Higher Education Science and Technology Assistant minister Kilemi Mwiria said it is necessary for JAB to recognise the diversity of the students and abolish the aggregate or grade system currently used.
He said many students are locked out of achieving their potential just because they did not perform well in certain subjects.
Quality dwindling
“The grade system where someone is required to have an aggregate A grade even in subjects that are not necessary to their career path locks many out. This must be reviewed to also reflect the unique talents,’ he said.
Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ said JAB should adopt the subject cluster system as was in the past to enable candidates pursue their dream careers.
“In my region we are not good in Kiswahili. But we can do well in mathematics, physics and biology. So candidates from my region can be locked out of engineering and medicine courses because they failed Kiswahili,” he said.
Students selected by JAB automatically qualify for loans offered by the Higher Education Loans Board. Other students are admitted at the discretion of universities under the self-sponsored programmes.
Mr Kajwang’ said external examiners should be involved in assessing university students to ascertain that their qualifications are genuine.
