KUCCPS announces a new deadline for college and university course applications.
Just one day after postponing the exercise until further notice, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has issued a new deadline for course applications.
On Monday, February 26, 2024, KUCCPS announced that, per Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu’s direction, the deadline had been extended to March 4.
Machogu said he had given the placement agency instructions to extend the deadline by seven days so that all of the targeted individuals may submit their applications in a separate statement.
The CS states that since the KUCCPS portal opened on February 7, the ministry has been keeping an eye on the application process.
He disclosed that as of February 25, 121,391 applicants had applied for different courses out of the 199,695 candidates who received a mean grade of C+ or higher in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam. This represents 60.8% of the candidates.
It is predicted that 86% of the 2023 KCSE candidates with a mean grade of C+ and above (171,738) will apply for placement based on the application behavior of the 2022 KCSE Examination candidates who had attained a mean grade of C+ and above.
It is anticipated that the remaining applicants (14%) will look for possibilities at colleges that do not participate in the program, Module II programs, or international higher education institutions.
“This means that as of February 25, 2022, 70% of all the targeted applicants with C+ and above had applied for placement,” Machogu stated.
“Therefore, further to the extension notice issued by KUCCPS on February 25, 2022, and to ensure that all the remaining applicants get a chance to submit their choices both to universities and colleges, the Ministry of Education has instructed the Placement Agency to extend the deadline for seven more days, until March 4, 2024.”
The application deadline was originally scheduled for February 22 but was subsequently moved to February 26 in response to many reports of technical issues.
Mercy Wahome, the CEO of KUCCPS, stated yesterday that there have been delays in processing applicants’ payments.
The head of KUCCPS cautioned the applicants against making duplicate payments and gave them the assurance that measures were being made to stabilize the system.
“The eCitizen platform is now used for government service payments, hence the KUCCPS application’s payment confirmation process takes longer than it did previously. Wahome advised applicants not to make two payments at the same time.
In addition, Machogu stated that the ministry had put together a technical team to expedite the application process.
“The Ministry is aware of the difficulties some students have encountered with the current application procedure. In order to guarantee that the issues are resolved and that every candidate is given the opportunity to apply for the programs and institutions of their choice, the Ministry of Education and other government stakeholders are cooperating,” he said.
“Further, a technical team – comprising representatives from relevant agencies – has been put together to fast-track the application transactions,” he stated.
Machogu said that applicants should utilize the USSD code *222# to validate their payments and/or confirm payments if they are encountering unusual delays.
“KUCCPS is required to promptly distribute a comprehensive process method. The CS continued, “The Ministry is dedicated to making sure that every eligible applicant is given an opportunity and that no student is left behind in the process.
at addition, he urged all students with mean grades between C and E to apply as soon as possible so they may choose from the diploma, craft certificate, or artisan programs that are available at TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) institutions.
“This category of students has the advantage of walking into their preferred Ministry of Education TVET institutions to be assisted with the application process,” he stated.
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