Row on KMTC student admission rages

The entrance to the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Nairobi. KMTC and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service are locked in a court battle over admissions. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Bill has been gazetted and it is expected to end the two year stalemate between KMTC and KUCCPS .
  • Justice Anthony Ndung’u in his ruling directed the two parties to meet and decide on the way forward.

  • The judge further allowed the admission of students selected by both KUCCPS and KMTC.

The controversy surrounding admission of students to Kenya Medical Training College is far from over following amendments to the Universities Bill.

The fate of over 2,000 students seeking to join the college hangs in the balance after the High Court sitting in Nakuru gave KMTC and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) two weeks to agree on admissions.

FRAMEWORK

This was after the lawyer representing KUCCPS Steve Biko presented an excerpt of the amended Universities Bill approved by the National Assembly before the court on Thursday.

The Bill seeks to put in place a legal framework guiding the mandate of the two public institutions.

The Bill has been gazetted and it is expected to end the two year stalemate between KMTC and KUCCPS who have been embroiled in a legal tussle over the legal authority to conduct placement of the medical students in training institutions.

Justice Anthony Ndung’u in his ruling directed the two parties to meet and decide on the way forward.

The judge further allowed the admission of students selected by both KUCCPS and KMTC.

LOSSES

Mr Biko had sought directions from the court on when the students should be admitted.

He also wanted the court to rule when the learners would begin classes and how they would be compensated for the losses they incurred during the court tussle.

The petition filed in court by Mr Kyalo Kamina sought a court interpretation on who— between the two— was mandated to select students joining KMTC’s 42 campuses across the country.

The court was told that students admitted by the KUCCPS were being turned away by the medical college, which had selected its own students.

Attorney-General Githu Muigai, however, told the court that Parliament had approved an Amendment Bill, which was to give directions on the matter.

ADMISSION

On Wednesday, Mr Biko told the court that he needed more time to go through the amended Bill since the excerpt was not clear on who was to handle the placement.

Justice Ndung’u had on October 2016 directed that all students who had applied to join the medical college and were selected through the two bodies for the 2015 and 2016 intake be admitted, pending hearing and determination of the matter.

The case will resume on July 31.