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Kenya: Revised Law to Centralize University Placement Regardless of Sponsorship


Nairobi — The Ministry of Education is mulling an amendment to the Universities Act to allow centralized placement of both State-sponsored and self-sponsored students to higher learning institutions under KUCCPS.

An amendment to Article 56 (1) (a) will see the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) extend its reach on admissions beyond government-sponsored students.

The amendment will also mandate KUCCPS to place international students in both public and private universities.

“Once we have delinked funding and placement, it gives us an opportunity to house as many institutions as we can,” KUCCPS CEO Mercy Wahome said on Saturday.

“This will be a good thing as it will give the students a centralized place for information,” she added.

With the shrinking resources against an increasing student population, the government has been facing financial hurdles in sponsoring and financing students across the universities and tertiary institutions.

Wahome said the proposed changes will also align to President William Ruto’s administration policy to adopt a needs-based sponsorship criteria that will award varying amounts in scholarships based on a student’s financial background.

“When we are talking of budget cuts in government and the population is growing how do you continue having government-sponsored and yet we are sponsoring everyone. We need to amend the act to remove the [focus] on government-sponsored aspect,” she said.

Revised funding model