2ND CARTA VICE CHANCELLOR'S MEETING CARTA 2ND VICE CHANCELLORS MEETING REPORT | Page 52

© Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) & University of Nairobi (UoN)
a) Institutional management and governance;
b) Inadequate funding for the high number of students;
c) Low quality education;
d) Questionable relevance of courses on offer;
e) Teaching and learning conditions are affected;
f)
Overcrowding of facilities, a problem that is facing most of the university in Africa. The new
institutions lack infrastructure so rely on and overload the older institutions, even though they
may be paying to use the facilities. Hence there is preference for arts based courses at the
expense of STEM courses;
g) Quality of student life.
Proposed solutions
1.
Need for constituent colleges and Vocational Education &Training Institutes
There should be one regional University supported by constituent colleges instead of every political
zone having their own University. This will help reduce the overhead and salary costs of running
several small universities and the money saved can be channeled towards research.
In Kenya, there is a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) government programme
whose aim is to realize the implementation of technical colleges in constituencies. It is expected to
boost industrialization.
Implementation of Vocational schools can ease pressure in Main Universities. The government should
give students incentives and encourage them to join the vocational training institutions, for example,
free tuition.
There is need for change on how governments perceive Higher Education. Government can
popularize the vocational institutions so as to change the mindset of parents that are rigid and have
already established preference for university to Technical training institutions highlighting on the
benefits of training in the Technical training institution.
An advantage of Vocational training is that while most of the Students from graduate schools take
longer time before securing employment, their counterparts from Technical Training Institutions are
quickly absorbed into a ready skilled market. For example, plumbing, electrician and masonry.
However it is important to remember the high level of democratization and civility associated with
graduates as opposed to their counterparts from technical training Institute thus the need to be careful
on how we approach the Issue.
2. Differentiation
Universities need to be distinguished with focus on a specific discipline. E.g. in Kenya, JKUAT focuses
on Engineering and Technical courses, Kenyatta University on Education, and Moi University on
Environmental Sciences etc.
Case in point, lack of differentiation is suggested as the reason for apparent disconnect between
Kenya School of Law and Commission for Legal Education. In recent news carried by a local daily,
2000 students sat for the bar entry exam but only 180 passed.
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CARTA’s 2 nd Vice Chancellor’s Meeting –Report of meeting proceedings – July 10-11, 2017