Vice Chancellors of public universities have requested that the Ministry of University Education be established by President William Ruto to oversee the nation’s higher education system.
Speaking on Wednesday in Mombasa, the vice chancellors and principals of several university constituent colleges suggested that the incoming administration create a task force to investigate the issues plaguing the nation’s higher education system.
They claimed that since the president ceased serving as the chancellor of all public universities, higher education no longer received the support it formerly did from the government.
According to Principal Secretary university education, Simon Nabkwesi, the ministry is debating how to ensure that graduates find employment after completing their education.
“We want to make sure that the university curriculum is specifically designed for the market. After graduating, graduates shouldn’t remain out too long, he advised.
The PS stated that a paper outlining suggestions to enhance university education in the nation will be prepared by the VC and the principals and given to President Ruto.
Regarding funding, Nabkwesi suggested that colleges be pushed to find creative methods to make money to augment what they receive from the government.
Prof. Francis Aduol, vice chancellor of the Technical University of Kenya, and Prof. Teresia Akenga, vice chancellor of the University of Eldoret, said Wednesday that a ministry dealing directly with academic institutions is necessary to end micromanagement.
They were presenting at the first ever worldwide annual conference for vice chancellors, presidents, and council chairs of public universities.
The conference’s opening speaker, Nabukwesi, stated that one of its goals was to review the educational system.
He claimed that the dons were debating ways to guarantee that pupils had access to high-quality instruction and were also considering renovations to deal with new trends.
According to the PS, the conference will assist the dons in creating and communicating their vision for governance, legislation, and other rules that can support public university education.
He also urged them to develop plans for debt reduction and sustainability, as well as to compare their efforts with those of other countries’ top performers in the fields of human resources and revenue creation.
Prof. Akenga noted that issues at institutions were resolved quickly while the president served as chancellor.
The president can select a chancellor for each university under the present legislation.
“We used to receive significant attention when the president was the chancellor of universities, unlike now when garnering such attention is an issue,” stated Prof. Akenga.
