Agency killing varsity programmes

According to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Placement Service (KUCCPS), agriculture-related programmes did not “attract” students in 2018 and 2019 because students hate agriculture or did not choose agriculture-based programmes. That is not true! This state of affairs is created by KUCCPS.

The millennials may not be interested in farming, or agriculture, but it is not the first generation to view the subject negatively.

Nonetheless, there are those who love agriculture: the sector employs 70 per cent of Kenya’s population.

This is where the rain started beating us. In 2016/2017, KUCCPS revised the entry cluster subject for all programmes. This is the subject, or group of subjects, considered for a particular high school leaver to be admitted to a specified degree programme.

The agency created 23 clusters — starting with Cluster 1, which had the coveted Bachelor of Law, and concluding in Cluster 23C with the Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies.

FLAWED SYSTEM

The defunct placement body, the Joint Admissions Board (JAB), used to set a minimum cut-off point for the programmes.

But that’s not the case nowadays. The student with the lowest cluster-subject points to choose a programme in a university sets the minimum cut-off point for that programme in that institution, provided he or she meets the cluster-subject points for the programme.

This system is good and acceptable in choosing programmes. The problem is not the student or university but a group of subjects a school leaver must pass to be admitted to agriculture-based programmes.

In Kenya, it is easier to learn how to fly an aeroplane than study agriculture.

The minimum requirement to join some of the agriculture-based programmes is higher than, or the same as, for the most intellectually demanding programmes — such as Bachelor of Aeronautics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Nursing or Pharmacy.

CLUSTERS

Students, therefore, opt for the “prestigious” programmes or actually do not qualify for agriculture-based programmes in the first place.

Ministry of Education officials seem not to see this; they just label the programmes “useless”.

Agriculture-based programmes are in Cluster 17, which has 17A, 17B and 17C. The subjects considered are biology, chemistry, mathematics/physics/geography and languages (English and Kiswahili).

Traditionally, agriculture-based programmes required the lowest clusters. That’s no longer the case. Let’s consider two examples.

Example one: Cluster subjects to join BSc in Food Science and Technology (Cluster 17B) are biology C+, chemistry C+, mathematics A or physics C+, Kiswahili/English C+.

So, besides a mean grade of C+, one must have a C+ in those subjects. This is the same for a ‘juggernaut’ course like BSc in Aeronautics Engineering, in Cluster 7A (mathematics A or C+, physics C+, chemistry C+ and languages, Kiswahili/English, C+).

Example two: Cluster 2A has most business courses, which require C in mathematics A or B and a mean grade of C+.

LOFTY DEMANDS

But, all of a sudden, when you cross to business-related programmes in agriculture, such as agribusiness management, the goalposts move by kilometres. The requirements for agribusiness management are mathematics A, C and biology C+ (Cluster 10A).

For business courses like Bachelor of Commerce (Cluster 2A), you need C in mathematics or B not A, but in agribusiness management C in mathematics A, which is harder, and B+ in biology.

Just because it has agriculture, business becomes unusual (pun intended)!

A few years ago, it was quite difficult to join a Bachelor of Commerce class; now it’s a piece of cake. You only need C in mathematics B to study B. Com and its relatives.

I guess this is watered down to favour private universities; the same case with IT.

BIG FOUR AGENDA

Why would agriculture-based courses require three or four C+ (mathematics A, biology, chemistry and languages) yet business/IT only require C in one subject? BSc Actuarial Science requires only C+ in mathematics A.

So, it is more prudent and easier to choose actuarial science over BSc Human Nutrition!

Even as President Uhuru Kenyatta drums up his “Big Four” agenda, where food security is one of the pillars, how will the country achieve food security if the universities do not train agriculturalists and food scientists/nutritionists?

Now, the ministry is telling universities to sack the lecturers in “useless degrees”, “lollipop degrees” and “degrees no one wants”.

The ministry and KUCCPS need to come clean regarding this anomaly. They should create an enabling environment for agriculture-based degree courses.

Dr Arimi (PhD) is the dean of Meru University of Science and Technology’s School of Agriculture and Food Science. [email protected]