KUCCSPS Given Deadline Over University Placement Results
One week has been granted to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to reply to questions regarding technological challenges with its portal that have made it challenging for some students to access results.
The Commission on Administrative Justice, generally known as the office of the Ombudsman, gave the ultimatum of seven days. On Thursday, August 3, the Office of the Ombudsman brought up important points about the distribution of the university placement results in a letter to KUCCPS Chief Executive Agnes Wahome.
Initially, consumers expressed worry over the absence of other free online or offline options for accessing the material.
“The Commission’s attention has been drawn to reports indicating that your institution released the placement results for students who applied to join universities and colleges in Kenya for the year 2022, but access to such important information is restricted to short message service (SMS), whereof the costs per SMS are Sh25,” said Ochola.
The see to Information Commissioner contacted your office regarding the aforementioned, and in response, your office said that the mechanism allowing each student to see their own findings was effective.
They said that they had done their own research and discovered that there was no information about how students may acquire placement information on the website or know other ways to do so without paying excessive fees.
“To comply with the obligation on proactive disclosure of information, your institution is expected to have availed adequate guiding information on the alternative access procedures on your website or any other media (online or otherwise), in addition to the information on SMS access,” the statement continued.
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This is a request that you react to the aforementioned issues and let the Commission know what steps your institution has taken to guarantee complete compliance within seven days of this date.
The Commission pointed KUCCPS to Article 35(3) of the Constitution, which mandates that institutions make any significant information affecting the country available for publication and public consumption.
Institutions are required under Section 5 of the Access to Information Act, 2016, to proactively disclose information that is pertinent to the public or that may have an impact on citizens’ rights and freedoms.
Students had previously complained that they could only get placement information via SMS. The fact that the material just included the course and organisation a candidate had been accepted to made it insufficient. Additionally, students claimed that they were unable to get letters of admission from their specific colleges on the platform.
Students who were assigned to take courses well below their cluster points were also a source of contention. For instance, a former student of Pangani Girls who received an A- (minus) mark was permitted to enrol in Kiambu Institute’s nutrition diploma programme.
285,167 students submitted placement applications to 69 universities, 210 TVET institutions, and three Secondary Teacher Training Colleges, according to KUCCPS. Surprisingly, 136,592 people who qualified for diploma courses did not apply, while 23,125 people who qualified for degree programmes did not. There are 483,457 open positions in TVETs and universities.
KUCCSPS Given Deadline Over University Placement Results
