99,338 students with C plus may not go to university

Thousands of students who sat 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams and attained the university entry grade could miss out on their dream courses as the government considers adjusting cut-off point.

Emerging reports indicate that the government would need at least Sh26 billion annually to support the growing number of students who scored grade C+and above.

In the 2024 KCSE exams, 246,391 candidates attained the university entry grade, 45,258 more than in the 2023 ohort.

On Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba acknowledged that the  government may not be able to finance all qualifying candidates, prompting a  review of available options.

Addressing higher education stakeholders at Lake Naivasha Resort during the Second Biennial Conference of the Universities Fund, Education Ogamba emphasized the need for critical decisions on university admissions and funding.

“So, a few poignant questions arise: Can we afford to provide full loans and scholarships to all the 2024 KCSE university qualifiers, over and above the existing continuing students?  Should we determine the optimal number of qualifiers that the Government can afford to financially support, and allow the rest of the students to seek alternative funding and loans for their programmes?” Ogamba posed.

This means thousands of students who attained the university entry grade could be locked out, a shock that may shatter young dreams.

Among them are 1,693 candidates who scored an A (Plain), a notable rise from 1,216 in 2023.

Additionally, 7,743 candidates scored an A-, 19,150 achieved a B+, 43,120 attained a B (Plain), 75,347 scored a B- (Minus), and 99,338 attained a C+ (Plus), which is the minimum university entry grade.

And to further reveal that the decision to lock out some students is almost a done deal, Ogamba advised the higher education players to come up with alternative funding options for students.

“We are meeting here when the country is set to make critical decisions on university admissions and funding, affecting the highest ever number of qualifiers for university admissions in the history of our country,” said Ogamba.

He added: “These are some of the questions that I am putting on the table for this conference to interrogate.

The news would also break the hearts of many parents who toiled to support their children through secondary education and nursed ambitions of the students.

Elephant in the room

The statement at the meeting was delivered on Ogamba’s behalf by Higher Education PS Beatrice Inyangala. In the statement, Ogamba said: “I can categorically state that the true elephant in the room is the question of how to adequately fund the 246,391 candidates of the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Examination who qualified to join university.”

He said that to take the students through the four year course, the government would require some Sh100 billion to cover the entire period of their studies.

“The obtaining situation poses serious questions, especially given the ever-dwindling Government resource envelope, and considering that the lion’s share of our country’s total annual budget is spent on education,” Ogamba said.

For several months now, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has not been able to open the portal to allow students select university courses.

As is always the norm, the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Education, during the release of KCSE results, directs KUCCPS to open the portal for students. But this year, the communication was not made, raising many questions.