The population of university students slightly dropped in the last four years shedding light on tough examination regulation adopted in 2016 to curb cheating.
An analysis by the Star indicates that in the last four years, the population of public and private universities dropped by 28,216 students.
The details are contained in the report of the task force on enhancing access, relevance, transition, equity and quality for effective curriculum reforms implementation.
The report seeks to iron out transition issues from primary to secondary school and from secondary to university under the new curriculum.
In 2016, the task force report indicates that the total population in universities was 537,689, since then the population has taken a downward spiral.
In 2017-2018, the population dropped to 522,059, in 2018-2019 (519,462) and in 2019-2020 it dropped further to 509,473.
GENDER REPRESENTATION
Generally, in both public and private universities more boys than girls tend to be enrolled.
On average, girls comprised of 41 per cent of the university population between 2016 and 2020.
Gender disparities are more pronounced in public universities than private universities.
During the period, women made up 47 per cent of private universities and 41 per cent in public.
Although the report does not detail the reasons for the decline, KCSE reforms initiated in 2016 could have triggered the changes.
The reforms led to a drastic decline in the number of students qualifying for university places. The ripple effects affected the overall numbers of those admitted to universities.
The reforms further hit hard on the module II programme that saw those who qualify for university but did not get government sponsorship proceed for self-sponsorship.
This were the biggest source of revenue for private universities.
Since the reforms, all those who qualify for universities are absorbed into the institutions under government sponsorship.
For fair play, the government entered into a deal with private universities to place the state-sponsored students to the institutions.
The report shows the government has sent 86,000 state-sponsored students to private universities.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
