High school graduates who did not meet the threshold for direct entry to university can heave a sigh of relief after a new route for them to access university education was unveiled.
KASNEB, the examiner of several accounting courses, launched a new programme hoping to tap into the large pool of students who failed to get C+ and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.
The course will be open to students who scored D+ and above, a change from the previous minimum grade of C- required for candidates taking examinations administered by KASNEB.
The newly launched one-year program will be a certificate course that will allow students to proceed to do a diploma in any accounting field and subsequently professional qualification such as CPA or a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
“Those interested in taking the certificate course can register as from April 20 with Kasneb.
[caption caption="KASNEB CEO Pius Nduati (left) and KCA University Vice-Chancellor Noah Midamba signing an MoU at the University boardroom in June 2017"]
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“The new certificate in accounting and management skills (CAMS) will be rolled from July 2018. It will be institution based and will address skills gaps in terms of accounting services at the lowest levels for the SMEs and NGOs,” stated KASNEB Chief Executive Pius Nduati.
He revealed that KASNEB had been in talks with universities and other tertiary institutions that train accountants to keep them informed on the developments.
Kenya National Qualification Framework Authority (KNQFA) chairman Bonventure Kere backed the move stating that it was crucial to offer students opportunities for self-improvement.
“One-time examination should not decide the fate of candidates. We have professors, who started as P1 teachers and we should, therefore, give each student an opportunity,” he stated.
Only 69,151 out of 606,394 candidates who sat the 2017 KCSE exam scored the mean grade C+ required for direct university admission.
[caption caption="Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed"]
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