Govt Announces Full Sponsorship for 42,144 TVET Students
The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools will enroll 42,144 students in the 2023–2024 academic year, the Education Ministry said on May 10th.
Dr. Esther Muoria, the ministry’s principal secretary, said that the government anticipated a higher number of students who took the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) to enroll in TVET colleges beginning in September.
Only 42,144 of the 145,325 candidates chosen to enroll at TVETS for the 2023–2024 academic year would profit from the government funding program.
The PS expressed confidence in the new system for paying students in postsecondary institutions, noting that it encouraged fairness and equity and that loans would be distributed in accordance with the degree of need.
Since all trainees placed by Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to TVET institutions are eligible to receive government funds, the PS said that the new approach is more accountable and transparent.
The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) will provide funding for the students, with the understanding that they will be responsible for repaying the loan once their studies are complete.
The HELB Mean Testing Instrument (MTI) will be used to ensure that only deserving students are funded. MTI has connections with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Registrar of Persons, and students will also need the signatures of local priests and chiefs.
According to the PS, MTI will evaluate trainees based on eight factors, including the learner’s prior educational experience, parent’s background, gender weights, course type (sciences or humanities), prior school attended, family educational expenditures, family size and composition, marginalization, and disabilities.
According to her, funding would depend on the cost of the course being taken, with government scholarships covering, on average, 58% of the cost.
She urged parents to enroll their kids in TVET programs, noting that all 238 of the institutions nationwide have the resources necessary to give them the technical skills required by the labor market.
She stressed that after being placed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), students will enroll in the 238 TVET colleges spread out across the nation.
The Education PS statement was released just one week after President William Ruto, on May 3, revealed a new strategy for funding colleges to address the debt issue plaguing public universities.
Ruto highlighted that the new model will be student-centered and the funding will be distributed through loans and scholarships in a news briefing from State House.
“Block funding for universities and TVETS in the form of capitation based on differentiated unit costs will no longer be provided. Scholarships, loans, and household payments would all be combined in a graded manner to fund students, he said.
He added that students will be split into three groups: the Vulnerable, the Less Vulnerable, and the Able, and that funds would be allocated in accordance with the groups.
Govt Announces Full Sponsorship for 42,144 TVET Students
