Only a third of KCSE candidates attained university entry mark

Education CS Fred Matiang'i speaks during the release of 2015 KCSE results. (Photo: Moses Omusula/Standard)

Nairobi: Out of the 522,870 candidates in the 2015 KCSE examination, only a third have met the requirements set to join university.

This translates to about 174,290 candidates; a number which Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said is an improved as compared to the previous years.

Only 149,717 candidates who sat 2014 KCSE exams scored the minimum university entry grade.

Many of the 2015 KCSE candidates will be forced to seek admission in alternative institutions as public universities in Kenya can only absorb up to 70,000.

Matiang’i said Technical Training Colleges will be set up in all 290 constituencies by the end of the next financial year to cater for the large number of students from secondary schools and bridge the skill gap in the country.

“Sixty of the colleges have already been completed and establishment of the rest will be done by the end of 2016/17 financial year,” said Matiang’i.

Matiang’i said the centres are not just for those candidates who do not meet the university cut off point as even students with an average mark of ‘A’ can enroll.

This is seen as a measure to increase the number of students taking up STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and discourage the trend where majority enroll for arts courses at university level.