Crisis over expiry of licences for agents linking Kenyan students with foreign varsities
Kenyan students wishing to study at foreign universities face a crisis as the licences of 39 recognised agents who recruit and link Kenyans to the institutions are about to expire.
Kenyan students wishing to study at foreign universities face a crisis as the licences of 39 recognised agents who recruit and link Kenyans to the institutions are about to expire.
Documents tabled before the National Assembly Committee of diaspora and migrant workers by the Commission for University Education (CUE) indicate the licences of 39 agencies will expire on June 19, 2024
The expiry of the licences for the agencies will put students wishing to study in foreign universities in a precarious position, as they will have nowhere in the government to confirm the validity and authenticity of some of the universities to avoid being cheated or awarded certificates not recognised in Kenya.
According to the document, out of the 86 agencies that are legally recognised to recruit or link Kenyan students to foreign universities, the commission told MPs that only 39 have valid licences.
A further 32 recruitment agencies have since applied and are awaiting approval from the Board, the licences of another nine agencies are awaiting re-licensing, four agencies are awaiting inspection and two others have since closed.
Dr Eunice Marete who is in charge of the Standards and Quality Assurance Division at the commission told the committee that only approved recruitment agencies are allowed to recruit students for universities abroad.
32 agencies
She told MPs that the Commission had been without a board, but one had recently been formed, so it would start with the 32 agencies whose applications were pending.
Thousands of gullible parents and guardians have been defrauded of millions of shillings by dubious agencies claiming to get them admission into some of the prestigious universities abroad.
Parents usually fork out millions of shillings to these fraudsters in the hope that their children will achieve their academic dreams in foreign universities. However, in most cases, this has turned out to be a scam, as the agencies operate illegally.
Licensing of student recruitment agencies is one of the functions of the Commission for University Education according to the Universities Act No.42 of 2012, the universities regulations, 2014 and the universities Standards and guidelines 2014
The licensing of agents ensures that agencies recruiting students for foreign universities and institutions are regulated for the benefit of Kenyans wishing to pursue higher education abroad.
Licensing of agencies helps the commission to take appropriate action against agencies operating illegally in the country.
It also assists the commission and the parents whose children are going abroad are admitted into accredited universities.
The commission, in collaboration with the National Intelligence Service (NIS), vet any agency that has applied for a licence.
The information that agencies are required to provide to NIS to assist with background checks includes the name of the agency, physical, postal and email addresses, the name and address of contact persons, and the status of the application, whether it is a new application or the agency is seeking renewal.
Scholarship
When licensing recruitment agencies, the Commission requires them to report the number of students recruited, to which university and to which country. The data must be given by gender.
Agencies are also required to provide the name and level of the programme the students would be studying at the overseas institutions, the type of sponsorship, and whether the students are self-funded or on scholarship.
If the students are on scholarships, the agencies are expected to provide the name of the organisation.
To be licensed by the commission, the agencies must meet other legal requirements set by the national government, such as having a certificate of incorporation, a business licence and a freight certificate.
Dr Marete, however, complained that some agencies start operating as soon as they obtain these documents without a licence from the Commission.
To curb this, Dr Marete said the commission is currently working with NIS, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and county governments to ensure compliance by student recruitment agencies.
Dr Marete also lamented that with the advancement of internet connectivity, some agencies are opting to operate online, making it difficult for the commission to detect them and bring them under the applicable regulatory framework.
"The Commission is keen to act on any adverse information about agencies that it receives from the mainstream media as well as social media," Dr Marete told the committee.
The committee, which is mandated among other things to consider all matters directly relating to policies and programmes for the protection of the rights and welfare of Kenyans in the Diaspora, is conducting investigations into the legality of recruitment by agencies in the country.
