Knut Eldoret West branch Executive Secretary Jacob Arusei. [Photo/ Joe Khisa]
A Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) official from Uasin Gish County has opposed calls by a section of political leaders and stakeholders in the education sector to lower the minimum entry grade for universities from C+.
This comes after mass failures were witnessed among candidates who sat for the 2017 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE).
Speaking in Eldoret Town on Friday, Eldoret West Knut Executive Secretary Jacob Arusei warned that lowering the minimum university entry marks would negatively affect the country's education system.
"C+ is an international standard for minimum entry mark to universities and I would be against any attempt to lower it," noted Arusei.
"We need to look for the reasons behind the poor results and come up with a lasting solution rather than opting for a short term solution of lowering entry marks," he added.
There have been calls for the university entry marks to be lowered after over half of the 2017 KCSE candidates scored below C+. The move is aimed at ensuring more students have access to university education.
Only 70,073 candidates out of the 610,501 who sat for the examinations obtained grades C+ and above, which is the minimum entry point to university.