KMTC chief executive Dr Kelly Oluoch is seeking state financing for trainees.
CEO Kelly Oluoch urges Parliament to secure student financing, saying training fees prevent thousands from enrolling despite KUCCPS placement.
A KMTC funding gap prevents about 20,000 students from taking up admission slots each intake, chief executive Dr Kelly Oluoch says. KUCCPS places the students at the college, but they cannot afford the training fees.
Oluoch raised the issue before Parliament’s National Government Constituencies Development Fund Committee on November 5. He urged MPs to help secure Higher Education Loans Board financing for the trainees.
He told the committee that KMTC has 89,586 students and trains more than 85 per cent of Kenya’s healthcare workforce. However, he said its trainees lack access to government scholarships and student loans.
Why the KMTC funding gap persists
MPs questioned why students at a public training institution did not benefit from the Ksh300 billion education financing package. In response, Oluoch pointed to the ministries overseeing the college and higher education funding.
KMTC operates under the Ministry of Health, while the Ministry of Education oversees existing higher education financing arrangements. Oluoch nevertheless argued that the college should remain under the Health Ministry.
He cited its extensive clinical training, hospital attachments and links with specialised healthcare regulators. Instead of moving the institution, he urged lawmakers to recognise its trainees as post-secondary students entitled to equitable state funding.
He also cited Bukura Agricultural College, Kenya Water Institute and Utalii College as comparable specialised institutions. Each operates under the ministry responsible for its sector.
Meanwhile, the funding problem affects other qualified applicants. Students who cannot afford to report leave their allocated places unavailable to candidates who could have taken them.
Proposals for student financing
To address financing across tertiary institutions, Oluoch proposed placing the planned Tertiary Education Funding Authority under the National Treasury. This would allow students to access assistance regardless of the ministry overseeing their institution.
Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo also proposed a warning on the KUCCPS application portal. He wanted prospective KMTC students to know that the courses are self-sponsored and do not attract government funding.
However, KUCCPS had stated in January that the government had allocated HELB funds for students it placed at KMTC. The agency encouraged eligible applicants to seek placement to benefit from that assistance.
The reported 20,000 unclaimed slots each intake compare with 34,048 places KUCCPS announced for KMTC in 2025. For March 2026, the agency advertised 21,774 vacancies across 36 programmes and 98 campuses.
