Parliament raised concerns about the state of university admissions over the niggling issue of a section of students expected to join universities across the country without them having been issued with national identity cards.
Following a meeting held by the National Assembly Education Committee on Tuesday, the legislators expressed their concerns that the lack of identity cards would hamper the application for university funding.
The Committee on Education further summoned several senior government officers to respond to the matter.
Among those summoned included the PS for Higher Education and a representative from eCitizen.
Additionally, Parliament summoned the Higher Education Loans Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and University Funding Model CEO to discuss the status of student admission into universities.
This is following a meeting where lawmakers noted with concern the challenges facing students applying for University funding who lack identification cards.
The Committee on Education is also expected to meet with the Commission for University Education on the accreditation of university programmes in a bid to streamline the process.
Besides the concerns raised on the matter of IDs, the MPs also reviewed a bill that seeks to bar KUCCPS from placing students in private universities.
“The Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the Universities Act, No. 42 of 2012 to abolish funding of private universities using public funds and to bar the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) from placement of students to private universities,” stated Parliament.
According to the Bill, the purpose is to safeguard public funds from misuse by private entities which have not been brought under the regulatory framework of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015.
Additionally, the Bill seeks to repeal the law that allows universities to receive conditional grants from the government.
“Clause 2 of the Bill proposes to amend section 53(4) (b) of the principal Act to abolish the issuance of conditional grants to private universities," stated parliament.
