Lecturers jobs at stake as students reject these 98 degree programmes, Kisii University worst hit.

98 programmes offered by at least 40 universities have been snubbed by 2018 KCSE candidates with at least nine degree programmes failing to attract any applicant at all in what could spell doom to these courses.

Data from the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) shows that the 69 public and private institutions admitted 89,486 students against available space for 145,338.

This means that 55,852 slots have been left unfilled after candidates who sat the national entrance exams last year were selected for degree courses.

Kisii University leads with 12 unpopular courses followed by the University of Embu with programmes, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Karatina University have five unwanted courses each.

Bachelor of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science (Aquatic Resource Conservation and development with IT) and Bachelor of Science (Natural Products) at Kisii University failed to attract any student.

Laikipia University, Maasai Mara and the University of Eldoret have three courses each that did have any placements.

Meru University's Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science and Resource Management) was snubbed and so was Bachelor of Theology at the Presbyterian University of East Africa.

At African Nazarene University Bachelor of Theology did not attract even one applicant while Cooperative University had its Bachelor of Social Work and Community Development snubbed.

It was the same trend in Kirinyaga University where students never applied for the Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Ventilation and Air Conditioning.

The situation prompted Education CS Prof George Magoha to call for a review of the courses universities offer.

He warned university vice chancellors against introducing new programmes which are irrelevant to the economy.

The official data shows that the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) leads in the number of students selected at 5,901, representing 93.2 per cent of its 6,326 capacity for freshmen.

It is followed by Kenyatta University, with 5,432 freshmen against a declared capacity of 6,227.

The University of Nairobi took 192 of the 314 or 61 per cent of ‘A’ students that sat last year's KCSE exam. Medicine, dental science, law, quantity surveying, civil engineering and architecture were the most popular courses due to the relative attractiveness of their graduates in the job market.