Members of the National Assembly Committee on Education have raised concerns over the high cost of the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) placement and examination in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions.
Speaking when they inspected the Ollessos National Polytechnic on Wednesday, the lawmakers promised to intervene and ease the financial burden for the students.
Reportedly, each student pays Ksh1,500 during application to KUCCPS and an additional Ksh1,500 for placement, pushing the total to Ksh3,000.
The MPs insisted that this figure, which did not include the cost of registration and practical assessments under the Curriculum Development Assessment and Certification Council (CDACC), was too high for students from poor backgrounds.
“This placement cost is too high. Many of these students cannot afford it. If we want to promote access to technical education, we must address these barriers,” Nyamira County Women Representative Jerusha Momanyi stated.
Her Siaya counterpart, Christine Ombaka, observed that the cost of the CDACC assessment across the institutions was too high and called for government intervention to ensure students do not miss out on the important exams.
"CDACC assessment fees are a real burden. Trainees are struggling to register, and that threatens their ability to complete their training. The government must step in to subsidize these costs," said Dr Christine Ombaka.
Narok Woman Representative Rebecca Tonkei added, "We have visited other polytechnics, and the high cost of assessment registration and practical assessment fees making it difficult for trainees to register is a common challenge across these institutions."
The senior principal at the institution, Wesley Yegon, explained that the students had access to government initiatives like the funding model and the JITUME digital literacy programme designed to help them pay the fees.
He, however, claimed that delays in disbursement by the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and a recent surge in enrolments at the institution had stretched out the already limited resources due to financial constraints.
"The recent increase in enrolment to over 11,000 trainees this year, the highest in our history, is a positive step. But it has also strained our limited resources, especially workshops, classrooms, and trainer capacity," she stated.
Despite these challenges, the committee chair, Julius Melly, acknowledged the rapid growth of the institution, especially by adopting the dual TVET model in partnership with GIZ, which allows trainees to spend 50 per cent of their time in the industry and 50 per cent in class.
Ultimately, they promised to escalate the matter to the Ministry of Education, stating, "Our tour here shows that Ollessos is doing its best to train trained youth, but it needs policy and financial support. We shall make the case in Parliament for additional funding and policy reforms."
