The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has proposed new legislation to create a mechanism for tracking form four leavers who do not transition into formal tertiary education.
Some of the learners join the informal sector, train in institutions not under the Ministry of Education, or seek opportunities abroad.
KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer Mercy Wahome told the National Assembly Committee on Education that having a legal framework in place would compel institutions and agencies to report the whereabouts of all secondary school leavers.
The proposal comes amid revelations that the government cannot account for more than 700,000 students who sat the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations and scored between grades C plain and E.
“We need laws that will compel everyone to report to a designated body or ministry the number of students they have taken in, and to share critical data such as their ID numbers,” Dr Wahome said during an inspection visit by the committee.
Of the 965,501 candidates who sat the 2024 KCSE, 244,563 attained a C+ and above, qualifying for degree programmes. The remaining 706,148 were eligible for placement in TVET institutions and other technical training programmes.
However, in the just-concluded placement cycle, KUCCPS only placed 194,372 candidates into various degree and tertiary programmes, representing 79.4 percent of the eligible degree cohort. This included 162,252 placements in public universities and 17,873 in private universities.
In a notable shift, 7,640 candidates who qualified for university admission chose to pursue TVET courses instead, while 6,750 others opted to join the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and teacher training colleges.
A section of candidates also chose to study abroad, enroll in private institutions, or join other training programmes not tracked by KUCCPS.
Dr Wahome noted that KUCCPS only coordinates the placement of government-sponsored students and lacks visibility on students in private universities, 300 private TVET institutions, the National Youth Service (NYS), or those who leave the country.
“We currently have no mechanism for accounting for young people who pursue training outside our coordination. There’s also no formal data-sharing system between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to track those who go abroad,” she said.
Lawmakers raised concern over the magnitude of the issue, with Luanda MP Dick Maungu calling it a national crisis.
“Losing track of over 700,000 students is serious, and the number is set to grow in the coming years, therefore, remedy needs to be fast-tracked,” Mr Maungu said.
The committee also questioned the rationale behind the continued opening of more universities despite a surplus in available slots.
KUCCPS reported 986,137 available placement slots in 2024, enough to absorb all KCSE candidates, including those from previous years, yet only a fraction were placed.
“There is need for moderation. We cannot continue expanding university capacity when only about 200,000 students are placed annually, because this excess capacity is expensive and unsustainable,” said Kibra MP Orero Ochieng.
Universities had declared a combined 300,000 slots for degree programmes, all approved by the Commission for University Education (CUE) based on existing infrastructure.
Despite significant investments in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, a large number of eligible students did not submit applications to KUCCPS for placement.
Some joined the informal sector through Nita programmes, while others enrolled in the over 300 private TVET colleges across the country or sought opportunities abroad.
