Three varsities fault agency for wrong details on courses

KUCCPS chief executive officer John Muraguri. He has promised to look into the matter, saying the mix-up might have come from the agency. [Courtesy]

Three universities have faulted Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) for giving inaccurate information on their degree courses.

The agency’s report for the 2020/2021 academic calendar for the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates, released on Tuesday last week, showed that 72 degree courses did not get any student admitted to pursue them.

Sixteen of the 72 courses had no applicant; KUCCPS didn’t place students in any of the 56 remaining courses. The report showed that six courses at Egerton University did not receive any applications from the candidates.

The courses are Bachelor of Science in Automotive Technology, Bachelor of Technology in Building Construction, Renewable Energy and Mechanical Engineering. Others are Bachelor of Science in Energy Technology and Renewable Energy and Technology. The university had indicated a capacity of 220 for the six courses.

Now, Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST),  Egerton and Maseno universities have faulted KUCCPS, saying the information is erroneous.

“We don’t offer Bachelor of Science in Automotive Engineering, Bachelor of Technology in Building Construction, Renewable Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Energy Technology and Renewable Energy and Technology,” said Egerton’s registrar of academic affairs.

Applications received

Maseno and Meru said they received applications in Bachelor of Science in Economics and Statistics with IT and Bachelor of Education Technology in Civil Engineering, respectively.

Meru University of Science and Technology said despite claims that Bachelor of Education Technology (Civil Engineering) had not attracted any candidates, 48 students were placed in the programme.

“Meru University of Science and Technology would like to confirm that we have 48 students placed in the programme. It is therefore erroneous to say the university did not receive any application,” said Prof Romanus Odhiambo, the university’s vice-chancellor.

Maseno University has also faulted the placement agency. “Maseno University offers Bachelors of Economics and Statistics with IT. During the current placement, we have 61 students...,” said Dr Destaings Nyongesa, dean of the university’s School of Business and Economics.

Baffled

Maseno’s director of communication Dr Owen MakOnyango said it baffles the university that the erroneous information is from KUCCPS.

“The document we have that places 61 students in the economics class is from KUCCPS. We won’t read so much into the anomaly...,” MakOnyango said.

KUCCPS chief executive officer Dr John Muraguri promised to look into the matter, saying the mix-up might have come from the agency.

693,830 candidates sat last year’s KCSE examination. Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) provided results for 689,007 Kenyan citizen candidates for placement.

[The writer is a 2019/2020 Bertha Fellow]