Dream of a degree fulfilled by ‘University Goes to Village’

University graduands. Photo/FILE

With the public university cut-off point going up every year, higher education is becoming a dream for many. However, this is set to change with the “University Goes to the Village” programme. This is a collaboration between the Global University for Lifelong Learning, churches and non-governmental organisations.

The programme does not place a high value on academic achievement, but emphasises a holistic approach to education. It embraces formal, informal and non-formal education. It is the brainchild of Sarone ole Sena, the support and learning director at Compassion International Kenya and a professor at Daystar University.

“We hope to help people in remote villages get an education,” Prof Sena says. “I subscribe to the notion that triangulated, blended and integrated education is more meaningful.” So, how are the studies undertaken? “A number of students are assigned a coach. He or she helps them file their weekly reports of progress on their day-to-day work, be it teaching, farming or livestock keeping.

This helps order their lives,” the professor says. The reports are two to three pages of their objectives for the week, what they have done well, what they may not have done well and what needs to be done better next time. Since it was started in 2005, several students have graduated at different levels.

Ten have been awarded Bachelor’s degrees, five Master’s and three doctorates. The programme supports community-based learning and recognises the advancement of practical education, professionalism and expertise in Africa.

Exam-oriented

The programme will come in handy in Kenya, where the 8-4-4 system is increasingly under attack for being exam-oriented and failing to equip students with the practical skills needed in life. Prof Sena said the university’s certificates were recognised in several countries, including Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Jamaica, Haiti, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and California in the United States.

These programmes are cheaper than the regular, formal education. “All a church or any other organisation needs to do is pay the university between $200 (Sh15,600) and $500 (Sh39,000) a year to help coaches move about. This will cater for all the students under their umbrella,” Prof Sena says.

Having acquired seven degrees and counting, the don says it is his way of giving back to society. Sena was born on December 31, 1949, at Olepolos Village in the present day Narok South District. The foster child of paramount chief Lerionka Ntutu, he went to school at the age of four after being “given way” to appease the colonialist. His love for learning would later see him get degrees in education and development studies.

“Based on my experience at Kenyatta, Daystar, Moi, McGill and McMaster, Leeds and Eastern University universities where I taught between 1980 and 2005, we started this programme to build talents, promote IQ and emotional intelligence in all people, whether or not they have been to school.

“It involves wooing established universities to the village instead of bringing students to the capital. That no one should be denied knowledge because they can’t pay fees,” said the author of 10 books. A University Goes to the Village programme class was taking place at Olepolos Village, Narok South District, last Saturday.

Dropped out

The 20 men and women aged between 22 and 70 beamed with confidence and enthusiasm as they were taken through translations of John Maxwell’s 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. In the group was Mr Joseph ole Karia, 65, a former headteacher and councillor, who retired with a P1 certificate.

“I enrolled in the leadership Training Institute in Nairobi, and then later Global University where I graduated with a Master’s degree in Theology this January,” said Mr Karia, who has enrolled for a doctorate. “I dropped out of school in Form Three for lack of fees,” said Mr David ole Shunkur, another student who has been to Tanzania, Nigeria, the Gambia, Senegal, India, Malawi, Guinea and Ethiopia for non-formal and formal education, where he obtained a dozen certificates.

He is about to complete a Bachelor’s degree. “After I graduate at the end of the year, I hope to enrol for a Master’s degree,” said Mr Shunkur, who is also the community, chairman. Mr Lerionka Sadera has never been to formal school, yet today he is the chairman of the local primary school and a proud holder of three professional certificates.

At this point, Prof Sena interjects to explain that they do not encourage dropping out of formal schools, but instead complement them and give second chance to those who did not attend or complete their formal education. The village has been transformed. “From a marshy bush 15 years ago when we did our baseline survey, today we have a bridge connecting us to the outside world, a school, dispensary, dairy farms, electricity and borehole water,” Mr Shunkur said.

Global University for Lifelong Learning, in conjunction with World Vision, recently launched a similar programme in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to help children and young adults catch up with education after the earthquake early this year, in which more than 230,000 people died and the entire education system destroyed. It is the first time in the world that it has been used in a post-disaster setting. Marginalised communities in Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Jamaica, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have also come on board.