The Ministry of Education (MoE), following up on an earlier notice by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), has fixed the deadline for applications for varsity placements on March 4, 2024.
KUCCPS had freed the portal for access indefinitely until they were satisfied that all eligible and interested candidates had applied.
But in a press statement signed by the Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu, the deadline was regulated and other issues were clarified, including the promise that no one will be left out of the process.
Here is the full statement by the CS:
PLACEMENT PROCESS OF THE 2023 KENYA CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION CLASS TO UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) opened its application portal on February 7, 2023 to allow the 2023 KCSE class and other eligible Kenyans to apply for opportunities in higher learning institutions. The initial application deadline of February 22, 2024 was later pushed to February 26, 2024.
Over this period, the Ministry of Education has been monitoring the process with to ensure that all the targeted applicants have a fair, efficient and effective opportunity to apply for their desired courses.
As of February 25, 2024, a total of 121,391 candidates who obtained C+ and above in the 2023 KCSE Examination had applied for various courses. This accounts for 60.8% of the 199,695 Kenyan citizens who scored a mean grade of C+ and above in the 2023 Examination.
Based on the application behaviour of the 2022 KCSE Examination candidates who had obtained a mean grade of C+ and above, it is projected that 86% of the 2023 KCSE candidates with C+ and above (171,738) will apply for placement. The remaining applicants (14%) are expected to seek opportunities in non-participating universities, Module II Programmes or institutions of higher learning in other countries.
This means that as of February 25, 2022, 70% of all the targeted applicants with C+ and above had applied for placement.
Therefore, further to the extension notice issued by KUCCPS on February 25, 2022, and to ensure that all the remaining applicants get a chance to submit their choices both to universities and colleges, the Ministry of Education has instructed the Placement Agency to extend the deadline for seven more days, until March 4, 2024.
All students who scored mean grades of between C and E are particularly urged to take advantage of the ongoing applications to select their desired diploma, craft certificate or artisan programmes offered in our TVET institutions. This category of students has the advantage of walking into their preferred Ministry of Education TVET institutions to be assisted with the application process.
The Ministry has taken note of the challenges that some students have faced in the ongoing application process. The Ministry of Education and other stakeholders in Government are working together to ensure that the challenges are addressed and all applicants facilitated to apply for programmes and institutions of their choice.
Further, a technical team – comprising representatives from relevant agencies – has been put together to fast-track the application transactions. In the meantime, applicants whose payments are experiencing unusual delays are encouraged to use the USSD code *222# to confirm their payments and/or trigger validation. A detailed procedure for the process is to be disseminated by KUCCPS immediately.
The Ministry is committed to ensuring that all eligible applicants are given a chance and that no one student will be left behind in process.
HON. DR. EZEKIEL MACHOGU, EGH, CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
By Education News reporter
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