Commission for University Education won't phase out holiday learning

Teachers can now breathe a sigh of relief after the university education regulator announced that it will not phase out their holiday learning plan.

Universities will, however improve on hours of instructions to meet standards.

Commission for University Education chairman Chacha Nyaigoti Chacha said each university must ensure teachers have enough time with their lecturers.

“We have told them that the only way to have the course is to work within the universities’ guidelines of 2014 but we are not closing the course,” Prof Chacha told Nation.

He added: “They should have a system that takes longer so that they have the minimum instructional hours. We want a qualitative environment for learners. Some universities have been using very funny places, with poor facilities and unqualified lecturers. That must be improved.”

PART-TIME COURSES

Egerton University has part-time courses while Kenyatta University and Mount Kenya University have distant learning.

Prof Chacha said while it was important for Kenyans to have degrees, they should be of high quality. He warned that illegal practices painted universities in the country in bad light.

In its audit released in February, the commission gave universities six months to review the process leading to degrees to ensure minimum standards. “Universities must ensure that all students meet minimum requisite instructional hours and workload to graduate,” recommended the commission in its report.

During the audit, holiday learning for teachers failed to meet the stipulated instruction hours and workload.

HOLIDAY LEARNING

Teachers union leaders have welcomed the commission’s decision against scrapping holiday learning.

“Everybody is going to school to advance their education and teachers cannot be an exception. The issue of instructional hours should be addressed by universities,” said Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers chairman Omboko Milemba.

Mr Milemba said teachers only have holidays to study and, therefore, the government should support them.

Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general Wilson Sossion said school holidays were the best time for teachers to interact with their lecturers. “Every university has power to design their programmes as per the Universities Act and they have different modes of learning,” said Mr Sossion.

GET DEGREES
More than 200,000 teachers in primary schools have used holiday learning to get degrees since they were recruited as P1 with two years certificates qualifications.

According to the Universities standards and guidelines, a Bachelor’s degree is supposed to carry a minimum number of total instructional hours applied science (2240), arts and humanities (1680), medical and allied sciences (3960), pure and natural sciences (1785) and social sciences (1680).

The academic calendar for a university is divided into; semesters, which comprise two (2) equal divisions/terms of between 15-17 weeks in an academic year, trimesters, which comprises three (3) equal divisions/terms of between 13-15 weeks in an academic year; or quarters, which comprises four (4) equal divisions/terms of between 9-12 weeks in an academic year.

A credit hour is supposed to be equivalent to a minimum of 13 instructional hours.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i also added his voice to the debate saying universities must adhere to the contact hour rule.