KUCCPS on the spot for depriving public universities students allocation
Members of Parliament (MP) have accused the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) of depriving public universities students.
While debating the Universities (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 35 of 2021) the MPs argued that KUCCPS was to blame for not placing students in public institutions but they had rather shifted the focus to private universities and thus robbing government universities of the best brains in the country.
MPs likened the present recruitment procedure to their heydays when public institutions boasted of having the best teachers and facilities in the country during a Parliamentary session late last week.
Further, the lawmakers stated that government funding for public universities was insufficient due to an insufficient number of student’s government funding not being channelled to these institutions.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa noted that KUCCPS was a problem that needed to be solved.
“We must deal with KUCCPS. Even after changing JAB the same graft that existed then persists today. Public universities have no students because KUCCPS is not placing students there,” he argued.
The MP added that although public universities offer a wide array of courses, they are left underfunded compared to their private counterparts.
Ruaraka MP T.J Kajwang’ also opposed the Bill arguing that private universities had become a cash cow in the country. He noted that the KUCCPS Amendment passed in 2021.
He noted that private universities had been built with taxpayer money, creating a void for public institutions.
“If every year we were to use the kind of money we’re pushing through the Exchequer to build the universities we would have built from 2012 up to now there would be enough universities for our children to go,” he added.
Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni criticized the bill noting the amendment did not have solutions for problems affecting public universities, instead it was looking for solutions for the private institutes.
“Across this country we have young people being admitted at university from very poor families. What is worrying is that when they come to you, they have admissions from private universities. And the amount of money they’re expected to pay is much higher than what is being paid at the public universities.,” he said.
