- The association’s chair, Stephen Ngari said no students will be disadvantaged during the selection process.
- This is after the government moved to delink student placement by KUCCPS from funding under the new model.
Image: FILE
Private universities have welcomed the government’s new funding model for higher education institutions.
Under the new formula by the government, state scholarships will be offered only to students who join public universities.
On Thursday, the Kenya Association of Private Universities lauded the government saying they were fully involved in the discussions.
The lobby said the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) 2022 candidates will be placed into both private and public universities based on their choices.
The association allayed fears that their courses will not be on the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) portal for selection by students.
"Courses offered in both their institutions and public universities will be available on the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service portal for selection by all students,'' the association said in a notice in the local dailies.
The association’s chair, Stephen Ngari said no students will be disadvantaged during the selection process.
This is after the government moved to delink student placement by KUCCPS from funding under the new model.
“Private universities will continue to engage with all stakeholders to ensure that all Kenyan students have equitable access to quality education, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and employability opportunities for the benefit of their parents, communities, and for the posterity of Kenya,” he said.
Under the new model, students from private institutions will only be eligible for government loans.
They will not be getting government scholarships like their counterparts in public universities with the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) issuing loans.
On Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu officially launched the KUCCPS portal to allow candidates to apply for courses.
Machogu said all the 173,127 candidates who attained the minimum university entry grade of C+ qualify to be placed in degree programmes.
Those who scored a C plain grade and below will be absorbed into Technical and Vocational Education Training Institutions (TVET) institutions.
Upon being selected, students in public institutions will be given the option to apply for government scholarships through a “fool-proof tool” that will asses them before being awarded scholarships.
The funding model will see students categorised according to 3 levels of need; vulnerable, less vulnerable and able.
Students from less needy households will receive scholarships of up to 53 per cent and loans of up to 40 per cent.
At the same time able students will be funded up to a maximum of 38 per cent of the cost of the program and 55 per cent in the form of loans.
Those joining TVETs will be funded to the tune of 32 per cent for government scholarships and 48 per cent for government loans