20,000 KMTC students miss training slots as college pushes for HELB funding

The Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) has raised concern over the growing number of students abandoning training opportunities due to lack of government financial support, with about 20,000 placed candidates failing to report for admission every intake.

The college is now urging Parliament to intervene and secure Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) funding for its trainees, arguing that their exclusion from state financing is denying thousands of qualified students an opportunity to pursue medical careers.

Appearing before the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Committee, chaired by Hon. Musa Sirma, KMTC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kelly Oluoch said the institution's placement under the Ministry of Health has left its students outside the government funding framework.

Oluoch noted that despite KMTC training more than 85 per cent of Kenya's healthcare workforce, its 89,586 students remain unable to access government scholarships and loans available to learners in other tertiary institutions.

He warned that the funding gap has created an admissions crisis, with approximately 20,000 students placed through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) failing to take up their slots after discovering they cannot secure financial assistance.

Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo called for better communication during the application process, proposing that KUCCPS introduce alerts informing applicants that KMTC programmes are currently self-sponsored.

Committee Chair Musa Sirma also questioned the exclusion, arguing that an institution responsible for training the bulk of the country's healthcare workforce should not be disadvantaged because it falls under a different ministry.

In its defence, KMTC maintained that its placement under the Ministry of Health is necessary because medical training involves extensive clinical practice, hospital attachments and specialised health regulatory requirements.

Oluoch cited Bukura Agricultural College, the Kenya Water Institute and Utalii College as examples of specialised training institutions operating under their respective ministries.

To address the funding disparity, the CEO proposed placing the proposed Tertiary Education Funding Authority (TEFA) under the National Treasury to ensure students in tertiary institutions receive financial support regardless of the ministries overseeing their colleges.