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Kenya: Improve This System
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The Nation (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
12 July 2008
Posted to the web 14 July 2008
Nairobi
Even as they celebrate 10 years since the introduction of the parallel degree programme, the public universities would do well to improve on the weaknesses in the system.
Although the programme, also called Module Two, has expanded access to higher education, it has in the past been criticised for putting profits before academic excellence.
The result has been that in some instances, under-qualified students have been admitted to critical departments just because they had the money to pay the fees.
The large number of students has also meant that facilities at the universities have been overstretched and, in some cases, lecturers do not have the time or the motivation to give quality lessons.
Even as the universities explore ways to expand their facilities, they should consider hiring more lecturers to meet internationally accepted students-lecturers ratio. But expanding access should not be pursued at the expense of quality.
There is also need for the institutions to review their curricula and to enforce adherence among lecturers.
As it is, many a lecturers do not meet the basic test of offering quality service to their students.
In other instances, lecturers fail to submit course outlines. And where this is done, there is no system to monitor compliance.
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If these and other weaknesses are addressed, the programme will have the potential of improving the quality of Kenya's workforce and revolutionising higher education.
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