Student Who Scored A- In 2022 KCSE Heartbroken After Being Allocated TVET Course: "I Expected Degree"

• Nairobi's Pangani Girls High School is among the top-tier centres of excellence in the country with respect to the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations
• One of its bright alumnae might end up missing her desired education aspiration after KUCCPS booked her a diploma course at a middle-level college in Kiambu
• The student in question posted remarkable results in the 2022 KCSE; she scored an overall mean grade of A-(minus)

Nairobi - A couple of top performers in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations are crying foul after missing their desired tertiary education places.

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) unveiled the placement results of the last year's secondary education finalists on Monday, July 31.

KCSE A- student in a TVET institution

An alumna of Pangani Girls High School now risks missing her desired career path after she was placed in a Technical And Vocational Education And Training (TVET) institution to undertake a diploma course.

The girl, whose identity remains under wraps, outdid herself in the 2022 KCSE, in which she scored a minimum grade of A-(minus), a slight distance from the coveted grade A.

With her remarkable results, the teenager had foreseen a degree in medicine, with a bias toward dentistry, she confided in Citizen TV.

She was, however, shocked to learn she had been booked into the Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) to undertake a diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics course.

"The message notified me that I had been offered a place at the Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) to study Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics. I scored A- in last year's KCSE and I was expecting to be booked the course I had selected," she said.

Unavailable funds for parallel university programme

Unsatisfied with the placement, the girl made her way to the KUCCPS offices in Nairobi to seek a review.

Her effort did not, however, pay off, as she was asked to return a couple of days later.

The Pangani alumna's concern is that she may end up undertaking a course not commensurate with her high educational capabilities considering the results she posted in the national examinations.

She got the option to sponsor herself for her favourite degree programme, but her parents' financial constraints tend to pose the stumbling block.

"Even if I return next week, I will find all the reasonable courses taken. I now don't know which program or university I will take. If I chose to go the parallel way, then I may not make it due to my parents' financial challenges," she said.

KUCCPS numbers

While unveiling the placement results, Machogu announced that of 870, 561 qualified candidates for placement into colleges and universities, only 285,698 applied for the places through the KUCCPS systems.

He stated that 140, 107 students were placed into degree programmes.

Another bunch of 144, 500 students were placed into TVET institutions, with 560 applicants getting admission into Secondary Teacher Training Institutes.

"A total of 9,673 applicants who qualified for degree courses chose to be placed in TVET institutions," Machogu said.