It has emerged that the 2019 KCSE candidates gave close to 20 university courses a wide berth during the just concluded 2020/2021 students’ selection process by the Kenya universities and Colleges Central Placement Service, KUCCPS. No single student selected these courses that have a total declared capacity of 940. The courses may have been distasteful to the prospective freshers as they are possibly unmarketable and with very low absorption rates in the job market.
Egerton university is the most hit after eight courses offered at the institution were rejected by the students. The 8 courses have a total declared capacity of 280. A total of 10 universities were affected (see table below).
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has since directed the Universities offering the rejected programmes to establish why they are not attractive and implement corrective measures.
In the 2019 KCSE examination, 689,007 Kenyan citizen candidates were successfully examined. Of these, 125,463 attained mean grades of C+ and above, hence were eligible for placement to university as Government-sponsored students. The remaining 563,544 were eligible for placement to TVET programmes at Diploma, Craft Certificate and Artisan Certificate levels.
Also See
2020/2021 KUCCPS Admission Letters, Lists and Transfers
How to change University and Course through Kuccps
2020/2021 KUCCPS first years joining instructions, Admission Letters and Lists
Download KUCCPS 2020-2021 Admission letters
With regard to available capacities, universities declared 145,129 vacancies for Government sponsored students, while TVET Institutions declared 276,163.
Following the successful completion of the placement process, 122,831 candidates have secured placement to degree courses in universities while 88,724 got placed in TVET institutions. Of those placed in TVET, 53,726 will be admitted to Diploma; 29,112 to Craft Certificate and 5,886 to Artisan Certificate courses.
SOME STUDENTS OPT TO JOIN TVETs INSTEAD OF UNIVERSITIES
Data from the placement agency shows that 2,632 candidates who scored C+ and above in the 2019 KCSE examination and qualified for placement to Degree programmes opted for Diploma courses in TVET institutions, and were placed appropriately. This number has been growing over time. In 2019, the number was 1,269.
This year’s placement data indicates that of the 122,831 applicants placed to Degree courses, 66,661 (54.27%) will join Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programmes, which are critical for producing skilled workforce required for the attainment of the “Big Four” Agenda. The remaining 56,170 (45.73%) have been placed to Arts and Humanities. Of the applicants placed to STEM, 42,267 (63.41%) are male while 24,394 (36.59%) are
female.
| S/NO | UNIVERSITY NAME | PROGRAMME NAME | CAPACITY |
| 1 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (RENEWABLE ENERGY & TECHNOLOGY) | 120 |
| 2 | KENYA HIGHLANDS EVANGELICAL UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF ARTS IN PASTORAL THEOLOGY | 100 |
| 3 | AFRICA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP | 60 |
| 4 | AFRICA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY | BNACHELOR OF THEORY | 60 |
| 5 | KARATINA UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AQUACULTURE AND FISHERIES TECHNOLOGY | 60 |
| 6 | LAIKIPIA UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (UTILIZATION & SUSTAINABILITY OF ARID LANDS, USAL) | 60 |
| 7 | MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (BIOLOGY & HEALTH) | 60 |
| 8 | INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF ARTS IN COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY | 50 |
| 9 | KARATINA UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN HUMAN NUTRITION AND DIATETICS | 50 |
| 10 | MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT | 50 |
| 12 | MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (BOTANY) | 50 |
| 13 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN DRY LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT | 40 |
| 14 | KENYATTA UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE HORTICULTURE | 40 |
| 15 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (ENERGY TECHNOLOGY) | 20 |
| 16 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY | 20 |
| 17 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION | 20 |
| 18 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | 20 |
| 19 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN MEDICAL ENGINEERING | 20 |
| 20 | EGERTON UNIVERSITY | BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN RENEWABLE ENERGY | 20 |
| 21 | KENYA ASSEMBLIES OF GOD EAST UNIVERSITY | BA IN CHURCH EDUCATIONAL MINISTRIES | 20 |
| 940 |