Rethink varsity education as numbers drop

Kenyatta University PhD students celebrate their graduation on July 17, 2015. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Data presented by the KUCCPS indicate that, of the 606,394 students considered for placement, only 62,851, or 10.4 per cent, got places.

  • Practically, some degree courses will run far below their optimal levels while, at worst, others might shut down due to lack of students.

  • The ministry will have to figure out what to do with the increasing number of educated youth who cannot join university.

When the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) released last year’s Form Four examinations, it revealed, for the second year running, peculiarly poor performance. Out of the 615,773 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates, only 70,073 attained grade C+, the minimum university requirement, representing a mere 11 per cent of the candidature.

Yet when the universities declared the number of places they had, it emerged that they could comfortably admit 132,686 students. Therefore, if all the qualifiers were admitted to public and private universities, they would only take up 53 per cent of the vacancies.

From the onset, it was evident that the universities were staring at a crisis. This, inevitably, became evident after the selection by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS).

Data presented by the KUCCPS indicate that, of the 606,394 students considered for placement, only 62,851, or 10.4 per cent, got places. Thus, they only took up 47 per cent of the declared capacity.

CRISIS

This situation portends a serious crisis in higher education. Practically, some degree courses will run far below their optimal levels while, at worst, others might shut down due to lack of students.

Many theories have been advanced to explain this phenomenon. A dominant narrative is that some institutions offer “irrelevant” courses and, hence, cannot attract students. Some critics even argue that such courses should be scrapped as they have no job prospects.

The problem of unemployment among educated youth in Kenya is multidimensional; its causes and remedies go beyond the relevance of the school or college curriculum. Education reforms should not be taken as a panacea for unemployment.

Indeed, a more appropriate remedy for the unemployment is fast-tracking economic growth in such a way that more jobs (and wealth) are created for all categories of people — particularly the educated youth.

Besides shortage of qualified candidates to join the universities, two other factors aggravated the crisis.

PLACEMENT

First, KUCCPS identified another pool of 5,747 students who failed to secure placement — largely due to a mismatch between their KCSE results and requirements of their degree choices. But then, KUCCPS can still give these candidates a chance to apply and then place them appropriately.

Did not apply

The second — and more worrisome — trend is that some 2,128 students did not apply for placement at all. Most probably, this category comprises candidates who plan to pursue further studies abroad and did not bother to engage with KUCCPS. Indeed, some of them have already left the country.

But some of them could be those who did not get correct information and simply failed to apply — more so, since applications are now digital. On this score, KUCCPS, universities and the Ministry of Education must find a way to reach out to such vulnerable candidates.

SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

The decline in the number of university qualifiers is a challenge to stakeholders to re-evaluate their survival strategies. Should the trend continue this year — that would be three straight years — universities could cease operations. They will have to find better use of their lecturers and facilities. Certainly, the scraping of so-called non-marketable degree courses will not solve the crisis.

The ministry will have to figure out what to do with the increasing number of educated youth who cannot join university. It would make sense to establish youth career centres in all counties to absorb them.

It is notable that the mandate of the KUCCPS now includes placing students in diploma and certificate courses. At least, this will partly offer recourse to students to acquire skills that help them to secure employment.

 Prof Mbatia is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Multi-Media University of Kenya. [email protected].