Connect with us

General News

Kenya: Private Universities Bag 28,000 Students

Published

4 years ago

on

[ad_1]

Private universities got a total of 28,063 government-sponsored students in this year’s placement, giving the institutions a lifeline amid shrinking finances due to falling numbers of self-sponsored students.

The number is higher than the 27,447 who joined the universities last year, according to data released this week by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS).

National Association of Private Universities in Kenya (Napuk) secretary-general Vincent Gaitho said although government funding is never enough to sustain the universities, the collaboration is beneficial to both the institutions and the government.

“This collaboration has provided an opportunity for government-sponsored students to study in well-equipped private institutions and reduced the burden for the government to continue increasing infrastructure in public universities,” he said Dr Gaitho.

Ever since the government lowered the university entry grade to C+ (plus), private universities have been struggling to get new students.

This necessitated the private universities-government collaboration to ensure the institutions do not lack students. The partnership also aimed at keeping the universities financially afloat.

Some private institutions, however, said they did not require government sponsorship.

Highest and lowest numbers

In this year’s placement, Mount Kenya University received 5,489 government-sponsored students, Catholic University of East Africa (2,691), KCA University (2,724), Kabarak University (2,157) and Zetech University (1,673).

Those that got the lowest number of state-sponsored students include Amref International University (71), Panafric Christian University (121), Uzima University (195) Marist International University College (218) and Riara University(229).

Others included RAF International University (252), International Leadership University (262), The East Africa University (286), Kenya Assemblies of God East University (291).

The universities that got few students had, however, declared relatively fewer vacancies and ended up getting more than 80 per cent of their declared slots.

Dr Gaitho said government-sponsored students have increasingly been expressing interest in private universities due to the high quality of education offered by the institutions.

He added that although annual funding for government-sponsored students has been on the increase, it cannot match what universities were making before the placement programme was introduced.

Newly placed students

“Institutions still continue to receive self-sponsored students in the niche programmes and the government funding supplements the earnings,” he said.

In the 2021/2022 budget, the National Treasury allocated Sh3.1 billion to cater for government-sponsored students in private universities.

The money was to cater for both continuing and newly placed students.

The first cohort of government-sponsored students was placed in various private institutions in 2016.

In the 2016/17 financial year, a total of 6,312 government-sponsored students joined private universities.

The figures, however, almost doubled in the year 2017/18 to 12,275 but fell to 11,239 in the year 2018/19 financial year.

The number further dropped to 10,276 in the year 2019/20.

Missing on placement

Currently, the total number of government-sponsored students in private universities stands at 61,237.

In 2017, the government released Sh2 billion to the private institutions to cater for students admitted in 2016 and 2017. It further released Sh1.98 billion to the universities and a further Sh2.4 billion in 2019 to the institutions.