KUCCPS Exposed In Bill Targeting Universities.
Members of Parliament debated the Universities (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 35 of 2021) and accused Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS).
Lawmakers contended that KUCCPS played a role in the current situation, in which public universities are struggling to recruit students and raise revenue.
During a Parliamentary session on Thursday, February 17, 2022, MPs compared the current recruitment process to their glory days, when public universities boasted of having the best lecturers and facilities in the country.
The MPs contended that KUCCPS was to blame for not placing students in public institutions, but that they had instead shifted the focus to private universities, depriving government universities of the best minds in the country.
Furthermore, the lawmakers stated that because public universities were receiving an insufficient number of students, government funding was not being channelled to these institutions.
Kimani Ichungwa, a Kikuyu MP, stated that KUCCPS was a problem that needed to be addressed. He insisted.
“That is why we have so many universities in our backyards that have no students. Without students then they have no capitation from the taxpayers’ money that we allocate in this House,” Ichungwa stated.
The MP went on to say that, while public universities offer a wide range of courses, they are underfunded in comparison to their private counterparts.
He urged Majority Leader Amos Kimunya to withdraw the Bill, calling it retrogressive and unfair to the public interest.
T.J Kajwang’, a Ruaraka MP, also opposed the Bill, claiming that private universities had become a cash cow in the country. He mentioned that the KUCCPS Amendment was approved in 2021.
According to the MP, it used to be prestigious to attend public universities, but now the focus has shifted to private institutions.
“It is today prestigious to go to a private university. When I went to school, it was prestigious to go to public universities. Public universities benefitted from the best lecturers and best facilities. Today nobody wants to go to the University of Nairobi,” Kajwang’ stated.
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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 a university, how many universities would we have built from 2012 up to now. There would be enough universities for our children to go,” he added.
Jeremiah Kioni, MP for Ndaragwa, criticized the bill, pointing out that the amendment did not address issues affecting public universities, instead of focusing on private institutes.
KUCCPS Exposed In Bill Targeting Universities
