The government has waived the requirement for national identity cards for students below 18 years in a move aimed at ensuring they do not miss out on university funding.
The decision was ratified Tuesday during a cabinet meeting chaired by President William Ruto at Kakamega State Lodge.
The move also comes as a relief to the more than 2,000 students set to join various public universities next month and are yet to attain the age of 18 years.
Concerns had been raised about their fate after they were locked out of the university fund portal for lack of IDs while others had invalidated newly acquired National Identification Cards.
The Cabinet further updated on the 2023/24 placement cycle for University/Higher Education Learning Students and the attendant roll-out of the new funding model.
The Ministry of Education has consequently been directed to jointly with all stakeholders, to fast-track access to scholarships for all eligible students.
ELEVATED TVETS
To further enhance access to higher education through a balanced institutional framework, the Cabinet further considered and approved the upgrading of 13 Technical and Vocational Colleges to National Polytechnic status.
“The action by Cabinet is pursuant to the principles set out in Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005: A Framework for Education, Training and Research; which establishes a pathway for upward mobility of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates”, a cabinet dispatch states.
“The policy framework also requires the establishment of at least one National Polytechnic in each County and a TVET institution in each constituency. As a first step towards realizing this shared national aspiration, the following institutions have been elevated to National Polytechnic status” the dispatch states.
The institutions that have been upgraded are Maasai Technical Training Institute, Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology, Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology, Coast Institute of Technology, and Tseikuru Technical & Training College.
Others are Sang’alo Institute of Science & Technology, Bureti Technical Vocational College, Jeremiah Nyagah Technical Training Institute, Mawego Technical Training Institute, and Baringo Technical Training Institute.
