Surging demand for higher education ought to have given Kenya a good reason to clean up its universities. But as the number of private and public universities has grown over the past seven years, from 17 to 24 private and five to seven public institutions, so have concerns over the quality of learning.
Private universities are opposed to a proposal to scrap the 8-4-4- system as recommended by the task force on the re-alignment of the education sector.
Kenyans be proud to learn that their country is the regional hub of private universities. The fact that in the past 30 years the number of private universities in Kenya has grown from only two in 1980 to 27 currently, speaks volumes about the entrepreneurship spirit of Kenyans.
Private education giant Educor is set to become the first South African institution to set up branch campuses outside the country as it expands its operations into four new African countries under its well-known Intec and Damelin brands.
Kenya’s private university investors are lobbying the government to change the law to allow them to attract high-performing school-leavers – currently the preserve of their public rivals – and they have the overwhelming support of students.
Armed with a Sh500 million war chest in funds, partly raised through a private placement, the Kenya School of Professional Studies is set to expand its facilities after getting the green light to operate as a private university.
The draft bill also implies that private universities could benefit from public funding should the government deem this to be necessary and allocate money to them through parliament. “A private university shall account for any funds received from the government,” says section 50 of the legislation.
Concerned that a growing number of students are enrolling in poor-quality private universities and diploma mills, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are working together to develop more stringent oversight of their higher-education systems.
Nearly 600 colleges are registered to operate in Kenya, but only 10 have been accredited to offer programmes on behalf of foreign universities, higher education regulators have said.
Kenya has enacted higher education reforms aimed at streamlining and improving the management of university affairs. The Universities Act 2012, finally signed into law by President Mwai Kibaki this month, introduces far-reaching changes.
Mount Kenya University deputy vice chancellor Evans Kerosi said the move will increase the number of students in private universities to be admitted through a joint admission board.
Private Universities in Kenya receive no funding from the government for running expenses. They rely on tuition fees to meet recurrent and developmental costs.
The Tanzania Commission for Universities, or TCU, has finally acted against a branch campus of Uganda’s Kampala International University, ordering the Dar es Salaam-based institution to stop offering masters and doctoral courses.
Concerned that a growing number of students are enrolling in poor-quality private universities and diploma mills, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are working together to develop more stringent...
However, the Kenya Association of Private Universities (Kapu) expressed concerns that by implementing the unit costing in public universities, fees charged in their institutions would be affected because of the forces of a free-market.
Students in private universities taking courses not approved by the Commission for University Education (CUE) have recently learnt, to their utter dismay, that they cannot get help from the campuses to resolve the problem, because CUE’s bark is louder than its bite.
Kenyan universities edged out their East African counterparts to emerge top in a new survey focused on the adoption of information and communication technology in higher education. Private universities outperformed public institutions and Uganda’s Makerere University was placed first.
Despite growing by leaps and bounds in the past 10 years and expanding higher education access to thousands of needy learners, private universities in Kenya continue to shun science, technology, engineering and mathematics – STEM – courses, leaving the heavy financial and infrastructural burdens of these subjects to poorly funded public institutions.
Competition for students among private universities in Kenya is intensifying, with institutions taking to both the electronic and print media to advertise programmes and display achievements. The private higher education sector is thriving, and now enrols 20% of all students.
The vice-chancellor of the University of Nairobi has asked the government to review the budgetary allocation to his university after the treasury failed to meet public universities’ requisitions for the forthcoming fiscal year. The total allocation to all public universities, which is US$200 million less than the amount requested, has dashed the hopes of several institutions facing a crippling cash crunch. The government has allocated US$982 million to her public universities for the 2017-18 financial year in the budget to be unveiled in parliament on 30 March. University administrators say the allocation is over US$200 million lower than the amount they had requested for the period. At US$721 million, however, the amount is 36% higher than the allocation in the current financial year. The research and innovation kitty for public universities has been set at US$42 million, up from US$37 million – a 13% increase. However, the lower-than-expected allocation means the universities themselves will have to effect budget cuts at a time when they are facing a series of challenges. Public universities agreed last week to increase salaries for lecturers by 17.5% after a 54-day strike that paralysed the sector. The agreed increase means universities will have to seek more funds to finance the increment. Professor Peter Mbithi has asked parliament to reconsider a budget cut of US$17 million slapped on the University of Nairobi. “We acknowledge that we have been facing financial challenges like any other public entity due to declining budgetary support. We have asked parliament to review the allocation,” Mbithi told reporters two weeks ago. New funding model Defending the budget cuts to universities, treasury said they were based on the new financing model known as the differentiated unit cost model, in terms of which state funds are allocated on the basis of the courses being taught at specific universities. Under the new policy, subsidies for science courses are relatively higher than those for arts. Data shows th
31 days is a combined Africa safari which provides travelers chance to explore 4 countries of East Africa at ease, including gorilla and wildlife safaris
m:lab East Africa is the region’s new incubation facility for entrepreneurs and innovators with a focus on mobile technology. The lab aims to facilitate demand-driven innovation by local and regional entrepreneurs, ensuring that breakthrough low-cost, high-value mobile solutions can be developed and scaled-up into sustainable entreprises that address social and economic needs. The facility’s services include business incubation, training, consumer research and application testing. The facility will also assist developers and entrepreneurs to access capital for scale up of their innovations as well as to access markets and business partnerships. The lab’s activities are aimed at helping to make the East Africa region a global hub for mobile innovation.
The protest in Nairobi on 15 January by a handful of Muslim youth, in which four people were killed, revealed a profound radicalisation and inter-faith resentment among Nairobi’s Muslims. Analysis by John Onyando, 20 January 2010
The leaked files include material from the 2007 General Election and its violent aftermath. They are much-awaited in some quarters of the Kenyan political sector, especially with regard to the ongoing build-up to the cases at The Hague by International Cr
UPI Oct 20: "Africa's exports of oil to the United States, largely from Nigeria and the dictator state of Equatorial Guinea, are roughly equal to those of the Middle East." "A major oil strike was made around Lake Albert in western Uganda in 2006, and geologists say it contains at least 2 billion barrels.Only 25 percent of the region, which includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has so far been explored, and some reports say there could be up to 6 billion barrels there.Uganda expects to start producing an initial 200,000 barrels per day in early 2012." Makerere prof Naimah Achim Bucha: "The truth is that Africom is there for the militarization of Africa and for the other purpose of elbowing out all U.S. competitors from the continent, China and Russia included."(
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: "What is WSF? Something That Will Bring Me Medicine?" By: Joyce Mulama, NAIROBI, Nov 22, Posted on www.ipsnews.net on: Thu 07 of Dec, 2006 20:46 IST (1942 Reads)
Våldet i Kenyas val för fem år sedan krävde över 1 100 dödsoffer och observatörer har varnat för en upprepning. Stämningen på valdagen är "spänd men förväntansfull", säger Anders Sjögren, forskare i statsvetenskap vid Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, som befinner sig i Nairobi. - Jag bevakade bland annat när premiärministern röstade. Det var mycket folk ute men läget var lugnt och disciplinerat, säger Anders Sjögren till TT.
David Smith,Guardian, in Nairobi 3.3.: "Victory for Kenyatta would put the world in uncharted diplomatic waters: it would be the first time a nation has democratically elected a politician indicted by the ICC. Given Kenya's status as a key western ally, not least in the fight against terrorism in neighbouring Somalia, a diplomatic headache looms."
CODESRIA Kenya extracts soda ash, limestone, gold, cement and gemstones but its resources are not exploited on a scale comparable to neighbouring Tanzania, Uganda or the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the recent discovery of commercially viable oil reserves in Turkana [http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/...], the impending arrival of a new port and oil refinery on the island of Lamu, enormous rare earth and titanium deposits found in Kwale [http://allafrica.com/stories/201307...], and discoveries of gold in Narok and Migori [http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/...] have caught the eye of new investors, hungry to turn a handsome profit from the country’s untapped resources.
J. Kiplang'at, und D. Ocholla. South African Journal of Library & Information Science, 71 (3):
234-246(Dezember 2005)M3: Article; Accession Number: 20486948; Kiplang'at, Joseph 1; Email Address: jkngetich@yahoo.co.uk Ocholla, Dennis N. 2; Email Address: docholla@pan.uzulu.ac.za; Affiliation: 1: Moi University, School of Information Sciences Department of Library , Records Management and Information Studies, P.O. Box 3900, Eldoret, Kenya 2: University of Zululand Department of Library and Information Science P.O. Private Bag ×1001, Kwadlangezwa 3886, South Africa; Source Info: 2005, Vol. 71 Issue 3, p234; Subject Term: DIFFUSION; Subject Term: INFORMATION technology; Subject Term: AGRICULTURAL informatics; Subject Term: RURAL development; Subject Term: SURVEYS; Subject Term: AGRICULTURE -- Research; Subject Term: FARMERS; Subject Term: ELECTRONIC information resources; Subject Term: KENYA; NAICS/Industry Codes: 541712 Reseach and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology); NAICS/Industry Codes: 925120 Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development; Number of Pages: 13p; Illustrations: 2 charts; Document Type: Article.