In the last two intakes, Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service has admitted students to private colleges in large numbers, ostensibly to keep the private colleges afloat.
This level of support by the government is noticeably absent when it comes to private secondary schools, which spend a fortune to advertise themselves to gain a competitive edge in the market.
In this intake alone, one private received over 5,000 students, the second-largest intake after Kenyatta University.
It admitted more students than the University of Nairobi, an institution with well-established structures, considered a mandatory requirement for universities to declare capacity.
Before admitting students, KUCCPS requires detailed information on the existing infrastructure, faculty, accommodation among others.
I don't understand how superior that private university is to UON, to warrant KUCCPS to post more students there than to UON or Moi.
So why must the government bailout private colleges by giving them students when what they do is just duplication of programs offered in public colleges?
The students admitted did not choose the university as a popular centre of higher learning but have simply been posted there by KUCCPS, to their chagrin.
This admission “fraud” to private colleges comes against the backdrop that public universities are on their deathbeds, occasioned by reduced capitation from the government and low intakes.
Private universities must create a niche, a favourable name for themselves to survive the turbulence, not to depend on the government for an indirect bailout, which now threatens to wipe out the public universities due to a crunch in numbers.
The government continues to pay staff in some public universities with low enrolments while beefing up the numbers in private colleges to sustain them.
Strathmore University bailed out of this arrangement but continues to thrive, priding itself on a name it has created over the years.
It is a brand sought after, able to survive the turbulence without a nudge from the government.
Today Strathmore University is standing tall and strong in the region, without KUCCPS students and government funding (capitation).
Their graduates too are in demand, owing to their market niche.
Strathmore declined to admit students from KUCCPS and their image is intact.
So why must the government bailout private colleges by giving them students when what they do is just duplication of programs offered in public colleges?
There must be personal interests in the private colleges, some with deep political tentacles in government.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
