Private universities fault student admission policy

By Augustine Oduor

Nairobi, Kenya: Private universities now want all students admissions done after candidates receive their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results.

They also want Education Cabinet Secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi to immediately set up the Universities Funding Board to sponsor qualified candidates.

The National Association of Private Universities of Kenya (Napuk) officials Thursday said the Government might not be able to sponsor students to both public and private universities and colleges unless the funding board is constituted.

Meanwhile, Prof Kaimenyi said the process of setting up the board will start in a week’s time and noted that sponsorship of candidates would be determined later.

The universities said Form Four examinations should be used to judge the strength of candidates ahead of their placement to universities.

Napuk chairman Somon Gicharu said it is wrong to ask form four candidates to apply for courses they wish to study at university without giving them a chance to know their performance. “This is a question of someone’s career and we should not bungle it. If a student applies for medicine and the results later indicate he has not qualified, why do we lock him out?” said Gicharu.

He said candidates will be best placed and happier to apply for courses after seeing their results that reflect strengths. “Once we do this, it will be irrelevant to engage courses revisions,” he said.

Gicharu said first and second revisions are currently done because students apply for courses they do not know they will qualify for.

“Let us get this right from the start so that we do not waste time and peoples careers,” he said.

He, however, welcomed the idea of Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) that offered candidates up to three options for their first choice.

“We fully support KUCCPS. They only need to correct the time for applications,” he said.