Title: KEY ISSUES IN MANAGING
1KEY ISSUES IN MANAGING CROSS-BORDER PROVISION OF
EDUCATION EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES FROM KENYA
PAPER PRESENTED BY PROF. KAREGA MUTAHI PERMANENT
SECRETARY MINISTRY OF EDUCATION SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY, NAIROBI, KENYA AT UNESCO/OECD
AUSTRALIA CONFERENCE ON 11TH -12th OCTOBER, 2004.
21. INTRODUCTION
- Kenya is one of the African countries that
straddles the equator - Has varied climatic conditions ranging from sea
level to snow capped Mt. Kenya. - 20 is high potential, 80 ranges from medium
potential to arid lands (ASALS) with a population
of 28.7 m people of different races. (2003
survey) - 3 education systems are in operation i.e.
national system of education locally known as
8.4.4.(KCPE KCSE) and various unique systems
offered by embassies and high commissions. The
British system is offered in exclusive private
primary and secondary schools i.e. 7.6.3 offering
GCE O and A levels. - The systems attract learners both within and
outside Kenya, mainly from eastern African
countries (for national system). No accreditation
in primary and secondary education in Kenya,
however the Govt. through MOEST Inspectorate is
responsible for QA - regardless of ownership of
schools. - For Schools run under embassies, there is no QA
by the Government .
32. THE BROAD POLICY CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION
- The Govts broad policy for education is
articulated in documents like Strategic Plan
(ESSP 2003). - The report of National Conference on Education
and Training (2004). And - The draft sessional Paper (2004)
- In all these papers the Governments policy is to
provide - Education and training through partnership with
private sector and other stakeholders - The overall vision is to provide quality
education to all Kenyans - The medium and long term objective on QA is to
deliver quality education to any learner who
joins an institution in Kenya.
43. THE TRENDS AND STATUS OF CROSS-BORDER HIGHER
EDUCATION
- Since the inception of the 6th National
Development Plan (1989-1993), the Govt. policy on
higher Education has been geared towards
development of a skilled and versatile workforce
to meet increasing demands in technical and
professional areas, which has lead to expansion
of local public universities and a growing number
of private universities. - The Govt. encourages partnership between public
and private sector , and that approach is
expanding the opportunities for acquisition of
higher education in Kenya. - There is an increased number of students from
other countries with the rising No. of private
universities. - Its interesting to note that while public
universities have 33 of students as female,
private ones have Gender parity.
53.1 TYPES OF INSTITUTION AND COURSES OFFERED
- In the last decade, private post-secondary
institutions have expanded rapidly in terms of
the No. of Institutions, Courses offered and
student enrolments. These can be classified to
the areas of their specialization -
- Teacher training colleges-offering certificate
and Diploma level qualifications for the teaching
career. -
- Business schools - offering Accounting and
business management courses. -
- Information and technology colleges mainly
computer schools and academies. -
- Professional colleges offering courses in
areas like insurance and banking. - Main institutions offering cross-border education
services are Public private universities,
commercial colleges, Virtual university and
institutions attached to embassies and High
commissions (study carried out by CHE )
63.1.1 PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES INVOLVED
- Public universities are working with foreign
universities thro various MoUs to offer key
academic programs such as -
- University of Nairobi
- Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Law,
Sciences and Social Sciences. - Moi University- Eldoret
- Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine,
Education, Social Sciences - Kenyatta University Nairobi Education, Arts and
Commerce. - Egerton University- Njoro Agriculture,
Engineering and Education. - JKUAT Agriculture, Technology, Computer Science
and Engineering. - Maseno Education.
- Total enrolment of local students is 72,875
students. There are also exchange students,
mainly at postgraduate level.
73.1.2 PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
- There are 17 private universities in Kenya, 6
being chartered 5 operating under letters of
interim authority, registered to offer higher
education. Their affiliation to foreign
universities is an example in provision of
cross-border education. - United States International University(USIU)
- Established in 1952, having started its
operations in Kenya in 1970, USIU is one of the
best practices of cross- border education.
(Enrolments up to 2,900 students in 2004) - USIU enjoys dual accreditation and offers the
following programs International Relations,
Psychology, Journalism, Hotel Restaurant
Management, Business Administration, Information
Systems technology ant Tourism Management.
83.1.3 EXAMPLES OF COMMERCIAL COLLEGES
- a. Grafins College
- The total number of students enrolled is 731.
- b. Kenya College of Accountancy KCA)
- The total number of students enrolled was 6,645
in 2003. - KCA has entered into partnerships with a number
of foreign Universities.
93.1.4 African Virtual University(AVU)
- AVU collaborates in teaching and research with
institutions and universities in USA, Australia
and Canada through satellite and internet
technology. - More than 24,000 students from 17 African
countries have completed a semester-long course. - Main courses are Information Technology and
Business courses. - Four public universities are collaborating in
this programme, the most active ones being
University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. - 3.1.5 Australian Study Institute (AUSI)
- AUSI was established in Kenya in 2000, and offers
Diploma Advanced Diploma courses in - Business administration,
- Information technology and
- Diploma in Information Technology
103.1.6 CHARLES KENDAL EDUCATION SERVICES
- Established in 1999, it offers Education services
to those seeking international education or
wishing to enroll in Universities abroad through
Distance Learning (DL). - Courses are linked to University of Leicester in
UK, University of Melbourne in Australia and
University of North Wood, Saginaw Valley and
Johnson and Wales in USA. - Courses include
- Education counselling
- Information on Education opportunities abroad,
application processing, co-ordination and
administration of examinations. - The total number of students who have graduated
are 18.
113.1.7 THE BRITISH COUNCIL TEACHING CENTRE
- It started offering trans-border education
services in 1992. - The students register for the programmes directly
with UK universities, and materials are mailed
directly to the students. - Examination materials are sent directly to the
Center Manager for examination administration. - The services offered in addition to examination
administration are - Registration of students
- Invigilation
- Student information meeting.
- The universities involved are Warwick, London,
Leicester, Wolverhampton, Durham, Southern
Queensland, Deakin, Bangor and Henley Management
College. - Courses offered include Association of Chartered
Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered
Institute of Purchasing and Supplies(CIPS)
124. QUALITY ASSURANCE
- The important elements to consider when
addressing QA include - (a) Admission Criteria
- For diploma courses the admission criteria
include - Pass C in KCSE
- Specified grade required for certain courses
- For admission to degree programmes, one needs
- At least mean grade of C in KCSE
- Specified number of points in any given cluster
of subjects required for particular courses (are
often imposed) - (b) Physical and Learning /Teaching resources
- Provision of physical facilities learning/
teaching resources is another determinant. - On the whole, cross-border private institutions
have teaching, learning resources comparable to
those in public institutions. - Public institution have greater potential given
physical and human capital resources available to
them.
134.2 CAPACITY BUILDING
- a. Staff Development
- Many cross-border education institutions lack
policies on staff development and capacity
building. A number of Lecturers are foreigners
and Volunteers, posing a serious challenge to
cross- border provision and has a bearing on
national provision due to the sharing of academic
staff. - b. Criteria for registration of institutions
- CHE is responsible for registration of degree
awarding institutions while MOEST registers
non-degree awarding institutions. - CHEs conditions are that the institution must
have - A registered Manager
- Appropriate numbers of qualified staff
- An inspection report from MOH and MOEST.
- Application to the Minister for Education.
144.3 ACCREDITATION
- There is no specialized agent for accreditation
of cross-border provision of education in
Kenya.The functions are undertaken by CHE,
individual public or private institutions. - Collaborations between cross-border education
providers and recognized public institutions of
higher learning in Kenya. - Collaboration between any public university and a
transnational provider is initiated through the
signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. This is
allowed in the respective Acts of Parliament for
the Various public universities. - b. Collaborations with private universities.
- Chartered private Universities are not allowed to
collaborate with cross-border education
providers. - Where a private university wishes to introduce
new courses, it is taken through an evaluation
criteria by CHE and then taken to be a course of
the local university.
15(C ) CHE ACCREDITATION MODEL
- CHE accreditation model has 4 parts, namely
- Submission application for establishment of a
private university giving its proposal and
evaluation of the proposal - Grant of letter of interim Authority
- Preparation of legal instruments
- Final Inspection and Award of Charter.
165. CHALLEGES AND ISSUES IN CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION
- Provision of cross-border education is hampered
by several factors, e.g. infrastructure, human
capacity and other resources. Some of the
challenges are discussed below - 5.1 National accessibility to the internet.
- In some cases access to the internet is through
dial up of leased lines to ISPs. The
Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has
challenges of providing effective bandwidth to
users of internet. - Telephone lines are mainly concentrated in urban
areas. The points where Jambonet can be accessed
in the country are few. - Monopoly of fixed telephone service provision
- Limited availability of ICT facilities in
institutions - Low level of awareness on usefulness of ICT in
the general development of the country. - Lack of relevant ICT policy to promote e-commerce
and e-use in other sectors.
175.2 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION
- It is difficult to establish the number of
students participating in on-line courses. - Local institutions tend to only facilitate the
e-learning by providing facilities and support
services such as labs, classes and site
personnel, while the transnational providers
develop programmes, teach, evaluate and award
degrees. - The QA mechanism is therefore left to
transnational providers and the product is not
vetted by CHE (if collaboration is with a
recognized public institution) this will change
soon - 5.3 CAPACITY BUILDING FOR CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION
SERVICES - In Kenya most instructors are from public
institutions and 70 of the staff in cross-border
education work on part-time basis. - Part-time members of staff (full-time staff in
public institutions) are benefiting from stronger
ICT infrastructural facilities in private and
commercial types of institutions. - Providers benefit from experienced staff from
public institutions.
185.4 LOW ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION
- Access to higher education remains limited at
approximately 10 of those who qualified. - Currently, public and private universities
accommodate approximately 30 of all qualified
students. This percentage doesnt include adult
learners in search of opportunities to improve
and acquire knowledge and qualifications. - It also does not include any foreigners who are
working but may be looking for education
opportunities in Kenya.
195.5 COMPETITION FOR STUDENTS
- Public and private universities have entered into
an era of stiff competition from trans-national
providers, who have come up with programmes that
are flexible for those seeking life long
education while continuing to keep in employment. - 5.6 COST OF FINANCING OF CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION
- Fees charged by trans-national providers are
comparable to those charged by private
universities. These fees are 50 more than those
charged for similar courses in public
universities. - The charges can only be afforded by middle and
upper level economic strata who can therefore
qualify for better jobs, posing a serious
implication to the achievement of the national
goals of equity and social integration.
206. RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAY FORWARD
- 6.1 Recommendations related to cross border
educational services. - Trans-national providers of education need to be
registered under appropriate legislation in order
to ensure quality and compliance. - The providers need to be evenly distributed
between rural and urban areas. - The programmes offered need to have a balance
between market driven courses and the need to
develop human resources to meet national
development goals. - Cross-border provision may never provide for the
poor. - We need capacity building for quality assurance.
21THANK YOU