Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has urged vice chancellors to maintain the quality and relevance of the programs offered to students in the institutions.
"Leaders should provide education and training in local universities globally competitive that can attract students and partners," the CS said in a statement.
Machogu noted that 22 per cent of the students who sat the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education qualified for positions in universities.
He said this was an improvement compared to 2022 when only 19 per cent of the students who sat the national exam qualified for positions in varsities.
"The 22 per cent represent 202,000 students against 173,000 students in 2022," Machogu said.
He said the additional 30,000 students will stabilize the pool from which universities get their students.
The release of the 2023 KCSE exam set in motion the process of selecting and placing the learners in various universities, colleges and TVET institutions.
The exercise is conducted by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service, KUCCPS.
In the results, 201,133 candidates out of the 899,453 who wrote the exam attained the minimum university entry qualification Grade C+ and above.
Another 526,222 attained grade D+ and above and will be placed in various colleges and Technical Vocational and Training Institutions.
According to the KUCCPS Charter, it takes 120 days after KCSE results are released for the service to receive and process applications before placing students in universities, colleges and TVETs.
Following the release of the results, KUCCPS opened its portal for students to make the first revision of the universities and courses they would like to pursue.
To revise or make a fresh application on the KUCCPS portal, students must enter their index number and password.
While releasing the results at Moi Girls High School in Eldoret, CS Machogu asked KUCCPS to align its entry requirements with the reviewed grading system of the 2023 KCSE results.
“Arising from the change in the new grading system, therefore, I’m directing KUCCPS and universities to align their cluster points and entry requirements with the new reforms to avoid disadvantaging the candidates,” he said.
Machogu said the system was adopted to allow a larger number of students to pursue courses of their choice at the universities, Diploma and TVET training at Certificate and Artisan levels than was previously when the grading was more restrictive.
“Additionally, I direct KUCCPS to mount a robust career awareness campaign among the 2023 KCSE candidates to ensure all students understand the new TVET and universities entry requirements under the Higher Education Funding Model that was launched last year,” he said.
KUCCPS opened its portal for applications for placement to TVET institutions of KCSE holders from 2000 to 2022.
The application closed on January 12, 2024, and students will be placed on various TVETS by March.
Machogu, however, directed KUCCPS “to immediately put in place measures to allow the 2023 KCSE candidates wishing to join TVET institutions to apply for their courses ahead of the March 2024 admissions.”