When James Wafula from Kolongolo area in Kwanza constituency of Trans Nzoia County received his KCSE, he expected to enroll with JKUAT for an agriculture engineering degree course offered at their Kitale constituent college preferably to cut on costs as a resident student.
But Mr Wafula (not his real name) was disappointed to learn that JKUAT had followed suit of other public and private universities in closing down their respective campuses in Kitale because of the low enrollment of and stringent and constraint economic impact.
Fearing to stay back home and be locked out of pursuing university education, Mr Wafula had to seek for admission for an alternative course in the local TVETs including the medical training colleges that have of late taken up the positions of the collapsed constituent colleges.
After intense soul-researching and close consultations, Wafula”s parents and guardians recommended him for a medical training course in one of the local outlets after considering the cost that they would have incurred to send him to study outside the county for a similar study.
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The problem was compounded with the facts the county currently had no public or private universities and that the area was not about opening such an institution in near future.
So Wafula was limited to three options: seek for enrollment in external universities, register for a certificate or diploma course in the existing TVETs or wait for the proposed opening of the Trans Nzoia County University or Kiminini University with the former being sponsored by the county government and the latter by the Kiminini NG-CDF.
Some of the universities that had closed doors in Kitale include Moi University, Kisii University, UoN, Mt Kenya University and lately JKUAT.
Mt Kenya University was the first to phase out non-technical courses and transform the campus into a fully-fledged medical training institute and changing its name to Equip Africa Medical Training College. It was followed by Nzoia College of Nursing, a brach of Sister Frida Hospital and later Dr Kilimo Medical Training College attached to the Cherangany Nursing Home and Hospital.
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These added to the government- controlled Kitale Medical Training College KMTC which opened its doors in 2014. All these colleges that offer training in Community Health, Community Nursing, Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Pharmacy, Laboratory Technology and Midwifery conduct their practices at the Wamalwa Kijana Teaching and Referral Hospital with other students being referred to Eldoret for bridge attachments.
But why the rush for the medical training courses ? And have the colleges adequately filled the gaps of the shut down university campuses?
According to the economic survey, the demand for health workers for Trans Nzoia County rose twofold in 2010 after the health unit was devolved, hence the rush for investment in the training the medical personnel. And with over100 trainees for community nursing and clinical course at Kitale KMTC annually ,the county government expects to address the acute shortage of medical personnel in its health facilities across the county.
Both the governor George Natembeya and the Kiminini MP Kakai Bisau pushing for opening of the Trans Nzoia County University and Kiminini University respectively are optimistic that the two higher learning institutions will be ready in time to absorb the local students for a wide range of courses with high demand in the global employment market.
By Abisai Amugune
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