Kahindi Bruno Shariff, a 2019 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) student who scored an A plain is among 2,632 other students who are going for a diploma course despite attaining university grades to pursue a degree.
Among the 2, 632 students, 78 of them scored a B+ (plus), results released on Tuesday by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Services (KUCCPS) indicate.
They are eager to pursue a diploma in pharmaceutical technology, chemical engineering, journalism, ICT, civil and structural engineering, architecture, laboratory technology and music.
They are among the 88,724 who have applied to join Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions for the 2020/2021 academic year.
KUCCPS CEO John Muraguri said that although a good number of those willing to join TVET institutions qualify to be admitted to the university, the number of those willing to join TVET institutions is still low.
“TVET institutions declared 276,163 capacities for diploma, craft certificate and artisan certificate courses and 88,724 applicants were placed, translating to 32 per cent of the capacity,” Muraguri said.
According to KUCCPS, of the 88,724 students who will join TVET institutions, 53,726 will pursue diploma, 29,112 to pursue craft certificate and 5,886 will pursue artisan certificate courses.
This new development comes as education stakeholders ask parents to enrol their children to TVET institutions.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has in the past said that TVET institutions will help in building the manpower in Kenya for technical courses which many shun.
“Parents in this country should change their mindset about these courses. In fact, those who train in technical subjects like electricity earn more money and employ others unlike majority of university graduates who spend years after college without jobs,” Prof Magoha said.
Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Education Zack Kinuthia said students joining TVET institutions will get between Ksh30,000 to Ksh45,000 per year through the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
KUCCPS added that TVETA has accredited all TVET institutions in the country.
Technical and Vocational Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan noted that the department is working in coming up with a blueprint of the market needs which TVET institutions should address.