20,000 students placed at KMTC fail to report every cycle. The CEO says it’s about money.

KMTC’s CEO has put a number on a problem students already know: placements that never turn into enrolments.

Dr. Kelly Oluoch told MPs that about 20,000 students placed through KUCCPS fail to report every cycle after discovering there is no government scholarship or loan to support them. KMTC currently has 89,586 students.

What the CEO said:

• KMTC trains over 85% of Kenya’s healthcare workforce, yet its students struggle to access government financial support
• He linked this to the college sitting under the Ministry of Health, not the Ministry of Education
• He asked that national funding legislation treat KMTC trainees as post-secondary students entitled to equitable support

What MPs said:

• Students who can’t afford fees surrender their slots, and other qualified applicants miss out because those slots are already allocated
• One MP proposed a pop-up on the KUCCPS portal warning applicants that KMTC courses are self-sponsored. That is a proposal, not a decision
• The committee chair questioned why KMTC was left out of the Ksh 300 billion education financing package

KMTC has also asked Parliament to name it in the Tertiary Education, Placement and Funding Bill, 2026.

What isn’t clear:
✗ How the HELB window KMTC opened earlier this year fits with the CEO’s description
✗ When the bill will pass, and what it will mean for KMTC students

It’s GOOD if:
✓ You work out how you’ll pay fees before you accept a placement
✓ You apply for every bursary and funding window open to you

It’s BAD if:
✗ You accept a placement with no plan for fees
✗ You assume funding will sort itself out after you report

The bottom line:
KMTC trains most of the country’s health workers, and its own CEO says the funding gap is costing it students.