The Kenyan education system is experiencing a gradual tectonic shift as more top Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) performers walk away from lucrative University degrees for Diplomas.
According to data by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) released on Tuesday, June 2, 2,632 students, some who had scored As, chose not to pursue 'prestigious' degrees in favour of courses offered by Technical and Vocational Education and Training.
This is a walk-away from previous priorities where students sought to pursue a certain clique of courses offered in top universities such as Kenyatta University and the University of Nairobi.
Statistics from KUCCPs showed that of the total number, 280 of them who scored a B (plain) and above opted to settle for courses in TVET.
Describing the students as TVET champions, Education CS George Magoha noted that students had increasingly opted to pursue Diploma courses despite their performances thwarting previously held negative beliefs against that cadre of careers.
Some of the students in the category include Bruno Sherif Kahindi who scored an A and was qualified to pursue medicine at the University of Nairobi but opted for a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Technology at the Nairobi Technical Training Institute, according to a report by Daily Nation.
Titus Mokaya, on the other hand, scored an A- of 80 points but settled for a career in Music and dance pursuing a Diploma from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
Other students are Emily Muhoria who will pursue a Diploma in Chemical Engineering after scoring an A- and Mohammed Dowa who scored an A- and secured a place at Kagumo Teachers Training College for a Diploma in Education.
Magoha noted that the choices to pursue these courses were from the students themselves as they made the selection as their first and second choices and retained TVETs during the revision of courses.
"We had applications made in schools. They did the first and second revision and most of them affirmed that they wanted to study those courses," stated Magoha.
He further observed that the students did not see the need to rush for lucrative degrees yet Diploma courses had prospects as well.
He, however, pointed out that some of the students failed to revise their courses and the placement board had no choice but to award them based on selections they made while still in High School.
