Kenia: Students should choose varsities, courses of choice

Kenia / 14 de junio de 2017 / Por: OUMA WANZALA / Fuente: http://www.nation.co.ke

Students should be allowed to select courses and universities of their choice, a Vice-chancellor has said.

KCA University Vice-chancellor Noah Midamba said students do not need to be told ‘go to that university and take this course’.

“A student should make a choice of the institution that they want to go to,” said Prof Midamba during the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examinations Board (Kasneb).

At the moment, Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Services (KUCCPS), is the statutory body tasked with placement of students in universities and colleges.

However, it has been criticised for forcing courses on students in most cases ignoring their needs.

Last year, there was an attempt to have universities and colleges select and admit students directly but the proposal did not go through parliament.

KUCCPS was to focus on developing career guidance programmes for the benefit of universities and students.

Prof Midamba at the same time said the government should not shy away from shutting down universities that do not provide quality education.

“We must meet the need of students which is quality education all the time,” said the Vice-chancellor.

Already the government has suspended, for three years, the establishment of new university campuses and has warned that it will not hesitate to close down underperforming campuses.

It has also promised to strengthen university governance and management as well as strengthen the university internal quality management systems.

The number of universities have doubled from 35 in 2012 to 70 last year and the number of students enrolled in universities has also increased from over 361,379 in 2012 to over 564,507 last year.

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Students-should-choose-varsities–courses-of-choice/2643604-3968458-u5a31mz/index.html