In a race to meet the government’s online platform migration deadline of September 30, 2023, public universities are working diligently to make over 1,000 of their services available on e-Citizen.
A statement by the Ministry of Interior and National Administration State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services on Thursday, August 10, indicated that Vice Chancellors and other senior administrators from 47 public universities convened in Mlolongo, Machakos County, for an onboarding retreat to streamline and finalize the implementation of admission procedures and essential services.
Immigration and Citizen Services PS Prof Julius Bitok who officially opened the onboarding retreat at the PrideInn hotel in Mlolongo urged the administrators to comply with the directive that is intended to boost convenient access to government services and raise collection of the relevant revenue.
“We have crossed the Rubicon on this, and going digital is no longer an option. It is a non-negotiable minimum that all public universities are required to comply with, and for very good reasons, as digitalisation is a legacy target of the government,” said Bitok.
Among the advantages he outlined for universities embracing digitalization is the capability to seamlessly monitor their revenue streams generated from student payments and other institutional services, both online and in real-time.
Bitok said the digitisation drive will be interconnected with the upcoming introduction of the smart/digital ID and the Unique Personal Identifier number, expected to be unveiled later this year. This move aligns with the government’s objective to enhance the authenticity of Kenyan registration documents, making them more resistant to forgery and aligned with international travel prerequisites.
Over 5,127 government services are currently available on eCitizen and an almost similar number is targeted for online end-to-end availability by December.
Some of the services that public universities will provide through the e-Citizen platform include:
- Application for New Students
- Course Registration
- Transcript Applications
- Graduates Verification for Employers and Document Verification
- Library Services
- Student Portal Access
- Scholarship Application
- Work Study Application
- E-learning Services
- Application for Examination Remarking
- Replacement of Transcripts and Certificates
- Application for Retake
- Clearance Application
- Replacement of Student IDs
- Bursary Application
