The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has announced that Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates with Grade E will be allowed to join post-secondary education.
KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Agnes Wahome was speaking at a press conference on Monday where she revealed that students with grade E also should be allowed to have a chance to pursue their degrees up to doctorate level.
Previously, most of the students who attained grade E used to be discarded and viewed as failures and were never given any chance to pursue post-secondary studies.
It has been only those who scored D+ that have able to join colleges to study artisan courses.
“It has been that those who score C and below are seen as failures but there is no failure. Among those whom we placed, the minimum was a C- (minus) for Diploma and a D+ (plus) for certificate courses,” said Agnes Wahome.
In Kenyan Universities, a minimum of grade C+ is required to be admitted to various degree courses.
“We are hopeful that we can take artisan courses as you develop your programmes so that even those who get grade E can also get the chance to study,” she added.
Wahome also implored learners with grade E to keep working hard especially in English and Science courses so that they can be able to be employed in future.
“You will be the first students KUCCPS will place so be our ambassadors. You can go into our system. Identify a course and get placed in Mombasa within two or three months whether you came from Kakamega, Machakos or Kisumu.
“We want fairness to ensure every Kenyan benefit. There are opportunities that Kenyans can utilize and move outside their local areas. We want you to train for international opportunities but you have to learn to speak good English, it is not going to be optional,” said Wahome.
Students who score grade E are in their thousands and many of them are advised or forced to repeat Form Four to try and improve their grades.
In the 2020 national examinations, more than 28,000 learners scored grade E most of them being from sub-county schools. The poor performance affected both public and private schools.
The learners who attain grade E in their KCSE usually find it hard in life and end up resorting to menial jobs for a living or deciding to involve themselves in crimes or other related illegal offences.