University education facing funding crisis as 200,000 make cut
Parents and teachers at Light Academy in Nairobi celebrate Tony Rotich Odhiambo (centre) after he scored an A in the 2023 KCSE exams on January 8, 2024.
What you need to know:
- All students who qualify for university placement are eligible for government funding.
- In the just-released results, the number of candidates who scored A rose to 1,216 up from 1,146 last year, which was an addition of 70 learners.
The number of candidates who met the minimum university entry qualification in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination crossed the 200,000 mark for the first time, signalling more funding pressure towards higher education on the part of the government.
According to official results released by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu on Monday, the number of qualifying candidates rose 16 percent to hit 201,133, an addition of 27,788 candidates from the 173,345 who scored C+ and above last year.
All students who qualify for university placement are eligible for government funding.
“The number of candidates who attained the minimum university qualification this year was 201,133 which was 22.27 percent (of the entire candidate population) compared to 173,345 which was 19.62 percent in the year 2022,” said CS Machogu.
“This is as a result of the application of the new grading system that reduced the number of compulsory subjects required to compute the mean grade.”
The jump comes at a time the State has announced the introduction of a new funding model for universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Tvet) institutions that will be need-based, meaning that financing will be apportioned to individuals depending on their level of lack.
Scholarships
While announcing the shift in May last year, President William Ruto said funding to students will comprise a raft of scientifically determined combinations of scholarships, loans and household contributions on a graduated scale where the categorisation of learners will be in four levels of need; vulnerable, extremely needy, needy, and less needy.
In the just-released results, the number of candidates who scored A rose to 1,216 up from 1,146 last year, which was an addition of 70 learners. National schools contributed the largest chunk of the best scorers, producing a combined force of 889 students with grade A, distantly followed by extra-county schools at 172 learners, private schools (143), sub-county schools (7) and county schools (7). A total of 899,453 learners sat for the test last year, marking a 2.1 percent rise from the 881,416 who participated in the 2022 exam.
An analysis of the results shows that the number of girls who scored A, A- and B+ increased 30.5 percent to hit 10,881 up from 8,337 in 2022, while the growth in number of male candidates in the same category was at a sluggish 5.2 percent to 15,667 up from 14,898.
Mr Machogu said that, out of the 30 subjects offered in the test, only 12 recorded an improvement among them mathematics, Kiswahili language, biology, business studies, German language, music and chemistry. Others were Christian religious education (CRE), building and construction, French language and electricity.
Male candidates
“Female candidates recorded better mean score performance than male candidates in ... English language, Kiswahili, CRE, home science and art and design,” Mr Machogu revealed. “Male candidates recorded better mean score performance than female candidates in mathematics, biology, chemistry, general science, history and government, geography, agriculture, computer studies and business studies.”
The number of candidates who attained the passing grade of D+ and above was 526,222, which represented 58.27 percent of the entire candidate population, compared to 522,588 (59.14 percent) in 2022. The number of candidates who scored Grade E hit a record high of 48,174 (5.3 percent).
Irregularities
Only four candidates had their test results cancelled out of 4,113 exam irregularities recorded, with Mr Machogu indicating that the rest of the cases were still under probe and that a determination would be issued in 20 days.
In a dramatic twist and a shift from the norm, the CS announced that the candidates who missed out on the final edition of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam last year would be allowed to join form one, where a qualifying test would be administered later.
“When I released the KCPE exam results in November last year, I promised that the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) would administer a supplementary exam for 9,000 candidates who failed to sit the examination,” said Machogu.
“Upon further audit and scrutiny of the number of candidates who actually failed to sit their examinations, the council has only been able to trace 2,000 eligible learners. Since this number does not warrant a national examination, it has been decided that the 2,000 candidates be allowed to join form one starting January 15 and be allowed to sit qualifying examinations later.”
