Ministry of Education to draft rules on university courses

What you need to know:

  • Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Tuesday said the ministry and Kenya National Qualifications Authority were drafting the rules.
  • The guidelines, according to the authority, would be in place in January 2018.
  • The CS said the framework would provide guidelines on the period certificate, diploma and degree courses should take.
  • Among the challenges Kenyan education faces are substandard diploma and degree certificates being offered by the institutions.

The Ministry of Education is working on reforms that would guide courses being offered by tertiary institutions.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Tuesday said the ministry and Kenya National Qualifications Authority were drafting the rules.

The guidelines, according to the authority, would be in place in January 2018.

“This is an important step that will ensure order in the manner in which institutions handle certification of academic credits,” Dr Matiang’i said.

The CS said the framework would provide guidelines on the period certificate, diploma and degree courses should take.

QUALITY OF COURSES

It would also give direction on the number and quality of courses to be offered by the institutions before graduation.

“The guidelines will put to an end the confusion being experienced in our education system,” the minister added.

Among the challenges Kenyan education faces, he said, were substandard diploma and degree certificates being offered by the institutions.

Dr Matiang’i said due to low quality education, many graduates found it difficult to find jobs.

He condemned the rising number of colleges and universities offering substandard courses, saying many of them were driven by profits and personal interests.

UNIVERSITY SENATES

“We also want to end the practice of university senates coming up with equivalent qualifications to admit students for degree programmes,” he said.

The minister added that the minimum entry to a university degree course remained a diploma or grade C+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination.
Dr Matiang’i said diploma programmes in some institutions were taking less than three years.

Authority chairman Bonaventure Kerre said the guidelines would be based on set criteria aimed at integrating and coordinating qualifications to improve transparency and quality.

The CS asked professional organisations to work with the Commission for University Education in advising on course qualifications.

STOP COURSES

“We need to stop the practice of moving to the court to stop courses which have already been approved by the CUE and are already being offered in various universities, if we want to help students to get quality education professional bodies should came in and start offering advice,” he said.

The chairman of the Kenya National Qualifications Authority, the body drafting the reforms Prof Bonaventure W. Kerre said the framework is based on set criteria that aims at integrating and coordinating qualifications to improve the transparency and quality of programs offered in institutions of higher education.