NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 15 – Higher education stakeholders have validated a report on reviewed degree criteria for placement of government-sponsored students to universities.
The report, which has 20 reviewed clusters, will guide the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) in the next placement from students joining tertiary institutions.
The review the current criteria, last reviewed in 2017, was informed by complaints by students and other education stakeholders.
While opening a forum to consider the report at Kenyatta University on Wednesday, Principal Secretary for University Education and Research Amb. Simon Nabukwesi stated that there was need to relook into the degree placement criteria so as to encompass the changes in universities.
“Every criteria needs to be reviewed based on the changing dynamics and circumstances of life. There are new courses introduced and high numbers of students joining universities. There is need to relook so as to provide equity in degree placement for students,” said Nabukwesi.
He urged KUCCPS to move forward and consider filling up the available spaces in public universities first, going by the students’ choice.
“I urge all of you to consider the new Degree Placement Criteria Document and Report, and adopt it to enable KUCCPS to conclude the process. I can assure you of the Ministry of Education’s support towards the success of this process,” Nabukwesi stated
KUCCPS Chief Executive Director (CEO) Mercy Wahome said changes made are not drastic but are based on the introduction of new courses and addressing the unbalanced situation that exists when it comes to the minimum requirement for certain subjects.
“We have had universities making recommendation it terms of the minimum requirements. We have collected all of the submission and compiled it in a report. Once the respective universities senate adopt the report then the reviewed criteria will be used for the 2020 September class,” said Wahome.
The validation forum which brought together Vice Chancellors, Academic Registrars and professional bodies looked into harmonizing the different requirements given by Commission for University Education (CUE) and professional bodies which most times causes a clash.
In the recent times there has been a tag of war between CUE and professional bodies including the Engineers Board of Kenya, the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board and Law Society of Kenya on who should regulate the courses that are administered by universities.
The court ruled that CUE is solely responsible for determining the quality of professionals that are trained by Kenyan universities.
“When we have had issues of Commission for University Education and Professional bodies giving two different recommendations on subject requirement. This is an opportunity for them to come up and actually agree. We have had issues of discrepancies in the subject requirement of the Form 4 which if not looked at will cause a problem,” Wahome said.
Programmes who minimum requirements have been reviewed include agricultural-based courses. In the new proposals the requirement for Biology and Chemistry has been reduced to C Plain for both subjects. Under 2017 guidelines, students were required to have a C Plus in both subjects.
The new proposals have also introduced an Agriculture (C+) as an alternative to the C plain in Biology.
“The direction we are taking we are really emphasizing on competencies. We have subjects like Agriculture where students have taken it for four years but it doesn’t reflect in the tail end. What we have done is to ensure that the subject is considered during the admission to the university,” said Wahome.
In the new changes, mathematics will no longer be a key requirement for students seeking to pursue a degree in teaching. This will also apply for students who want to teach other subjects in secondary school that are not related to Mathematics.
In 2019, KUCCPS requested universities, professional and regulatory bodies to submit their views on the minimum requirements for courses as part of the review process.
The validation of the document paved the way for its transmission to Universities’ Senates for adoption to inform admission requirements .
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