By Augustine Oduor

Nairobi, Kenya: The Joint Admissions Board no longer has the mandate to decide which students can be accommodated to study at Kenyan universities.

The Universities Act 2012 provides for the establishment of a single placement board that is tasked with this responsibility for both public and private universities. Section 55 of the Act establishes the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service, meaning JAB ceased to be the moment the Act came into force.

The Act says the placement board, which shall consist of 13 members appointed by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, shall govern the service.

The persons will among others, include four vice-chancellors representing public and private universities.

The board is mandated, under the law, to co-ordinate the placement of students to universities and colleges and also develop career guidance programmes for the benefit of students.

National Association of Private Universities of Kenya has since faulted the rush by JAB to conduct the exercise, saying it was an illegality. Napuk national chairperson Simon Gicharu said JAB was a small club for a few vice-chancellors and should no longer be allowed to place students to universities.

Course Information

“These are the reasons education stakeholders asked for a central placement board so that all children can get fair treatment because it is their right,” he said.

Gicharu said JAB has failed in its duties and no career guidance has been conducted to sensitise learners on the state priority courses to inform their choices.

He said JAB does not even operate an office where students can seek help.

“It is the students’ right to get better services and information. Under the law, we should have proper structures of placing students to universities,” he said.

Egerton University Vice-Chancellor Prof James Tuitoek handed over the leadership of JAB to Prof Mabel Imbuga of Jkuat last week.

He said JAB has a strong secretariat that has handled students’ issues over years.

Napuk said the new Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof Jacob Kaimenyi should set up the new board to conduct the selection.

“Why did JAB hurry? The law must be respected. If universities officials cannot respect the law what do they expect?” asked Gicharu.

Once set up, among its duties, the board will disseminate information on available programmes, their costs and the areas of study prioritised by the Government.

In the performance of its functions, the board shall promote equity and access to university and college education.

The Act says it shall do this by among other things, developing criteria for affirmative action for the marginalised. It also says the board shall establish criteria to enable students’ access the courses for which they applied taking into account the students’ qualifications and listed priorities.

Unfair process

This means the board would ensure cases of students missing on the courses they applied and qualified for are reduced.

Findings of a study conducted last year by Gallup Africa (now operating in Kenya as CPS International), the Status of Higher Education in Kenya Survey by Gallup Africa revealed that 90.4 per cent of the students interviewed were dissatisfied with JAB.

The students said they wanted JAB disbanded because most of the times they do not study courses of their choices.

“Majority of the students feel JAB is not doing enough to ensure quality and fairness in allocation of slots in the universities,” it says.