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Kenya: Queries Over Quality of Degrees Awarded By Spanish College
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
13 April 2008
Posted to the web 14 April 2008
Mwaura Kimani
Nairobi
For two years, the locally unaccredited Bircham International University has been illegally operating in Kenya, wooing unsuspecting students to its distance learning classes.
Questions are now being raised over degrees courses offered by the Spanish institution, in what appears to be yet another angle to an ensuing education scam.
Investigations by Business Daily show that the university charges between Sh250,000 and Sh400,000 in fees for undergraduate, masters and doctorate courses.
This is marginally below what most local accredited universities charge for the same type of degrees.
Most of the bogus colleges are found in congested precincts, often sandwiched between shops and office blocks. They charge lower fees than most universities and are staffed by teachers who lack credentials.
Locally, some institutions are claiming to offer degrees on behalf of Bircham International university. Among them is Maranatha Professional College of Counselling based in Nairobi.
The secretary for Commission for Higher Education (CHE), Prof Everett Standa, says the institution is operating in the country illegally and degree certificates from BIU will not be recognised by the Commission.
Our request to the Spanish Embassy in Kenya on the registration status of BIU in Spain was unanswered by the time of going to press.
On several occasions, BIU has unsuccessfully sought collaboration with some credible local colleges. One such institution is the Kenya Institute of Professional Counselling which is validated by CHE and is already in collaboration with the Egerton University.
It is understood that most of the initial students of BIU had been recruited from KIPC, but later withdrew from the it after word went around that the institution was not locally recognised.
A former student, who enrolled in 2004 and has graduated, told Business Daily that BIU has hired agents to source local students. The agent gets a commission of $1,000 (Sh62,000) for every student who enrols and pays up the whole fees amount.
According to Prof Standa, BIU is not listed in the Unesco's International Handbook of Universities - a list of all registered universities in the World - which the commission uses to verify information on any foreign university.
BIU, which says it has already enrolled 110 students, operates from the 17th floor of Posta Sacco Plaza along University Way. However, the institution's co-ordinator for the East Africa region, Timothy Kiambi, sees no need in seeking accreditation for BIU to operate in the country.
"Ours is a Distance Learning Programme, which is not even regulated in Kenya," he told Business Daily. "We use the local colleges to support our students especially in research, so it is not really something that requires accreditation"
"You don't go to a foreign land and begin operations there without informing the authorities," said Prof Standa, adding that several bogus universities appear each year and students should be wary.
Locally, BIU offers diploma, degrees, masters and doctorates in Forensic Psychology and Criminology, Security Management, psychology and counselling among others.
"Officially validated degrees are required for certain government posts and professional licenses. BIU distance learning degrees can not be used for these purposes," the institution says in its website. A number of factors are coming together to fuel this trend of phony schools.
For education analysts; the rapid globalisation of education is likely to attract a more diverse range of private providers--both local and foreign -- and there could be a greater risk of confusion.
More foreign universities are set to open overseas campuses - and CHE warns that there will be "more of these shadowy organisations wanting to make quick cash".
Although the awarding of qualifications in Kenyan universities is tightly regulated, the rules do not apply for businesses calling themselves "colleges" or "institutes".
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Degrees from such universities are mere pieces of paper with no academic value.
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