The KUCCPS Website is a Disgrace to the Silicon Savannah Dream

Many years ago, when I was a high school student, we applied to universities through a board known as “JAB” – the Joint Admissions Board. These applications were made through our school, right before or during the KSCE exams – Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. That board was eventually disbanded in favor of the KUCCPS Board – Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service. Essentially, it’s the same idea but with a fancier name, as we like to do things in Kenya. However, here’s the thing: the JAB website, during our second and third revisions before final selection, wasn’t nearly as messy as the KUCCPS website has been over the past few weeks. I have never seen students, from all walks of life, so stressed about missing potential opportunities in higher education due to a faulty website

You’re currently on my website, which, thankfully, many of you can access without issues. I acknowledge that comparing my website to the government’s platform isn’t entirely fair due to the difference in scale. However, shouldn’t the government be more competent in managing such critical services? It’s baffling that an organization established by an act of parliament struggles to maintain a website that plays a crucial role in the lives of millions of Kenyans. Furthermore, setting application deadlines without ensuring reliable website access is incredibly unfair. What happens to those who fail to submit their applications on time due to these technical issues?.What is wrong with this country? How hard is it really to have a system that works!!?

Imagine you’re trying to submit your application for higher learning, along with millions of other Kenyans. You’re told you need to do so via a government website. Every time you try to access the website, it either takes forever to load or gives you a different error each time. So, for weeks, nothing works. Not on your phone. Not on the desktop. Now, imagine you’re in a village without access to a smartphone (the website is actually terrible on small displays), and you have to visit a cyber cafe to go through the application process. Each time, you’re paying to be told the website isn’t accessible. With each passing day, the deadline draws nearer. Yet, we claim we’re building the Silicon Savannah of Africa?

Who is responsible for the https://students.kuccps.net portal? Who manages it? And are they satisfied with their work? Why is there a 503 Error every single minute? What is the current budget for website maintenance? How much is being invested to ensure the site runs correctly? And if so, who proposed and who approved this budget? If it was approved, why isn’t the website running as smoothly as it should? Are we even slightly serious about the futures of young Kenyans? Why not revert to manual processes if the technical task of simply ensuring a website functions properly is too complicated for us?