East African universities which topped in the first ever regional education
competition were feted at a function held in a Nairobi hotel.
The competition, dubbed Celtel Africa Challenge, was won by Egerton University,
which scooped the first prize of Sh3.45 million. The university also received
a winners' trophy and a certificate.
Kenyatta University, the runners-up in the challenge organised by mobile
phone service provider Celtel, received Sh 1.7 million and a certificate
of recognition.
The challenge
The competition, aired simultaneously on television stations in Kenya,
Uganda and Tanzania, comprised 16 universities and was held at the United
States International University campus. In Kenya, the challenge was aired
every Sunday on NTV.
Universities from Tanzania and Uganda that participated in the competition
were Makerere, Nkumba, Islamic, Zanzibar, Sokoine and Dar-es Salaam among
others.
The climax of the regional competition saw Egerton beat Kenyatta University
in the finals to take the first prize.
Students from various universities had to answer questions from a number
of subjects ranging from history, physics, chemistry, geography and music
among others. University of Nairobi, Catholic University, Moi University
and United States International University each got a certificate for
their participation.
Students from Egerton and Kenyatta universities, who represented the institutions,
received a Nokia N series mobile phone, a HP laptop and money each.
Speaking during the award ceremony Education minister George Saitoti said
the competition had proved Kenya provided quality education despite criticism
from certain quarters.
With University of Dar-es-Salaam ranked top within the Kenya-Tanzania-Uganda
region, one would naturally expect it to win this academic event. The
winners, Egerton University, however, who are incidentally ranked second
in the same region certainly proved something as to why they are ranked
so.
For more on the regional university ranking and their relative ranking
in the continent and around the world, look at the East African University
Ranking table on edukenya.com home page.
What matters?
"Competition confirmed that what matters is not the structure of
the system of education but what is covered in the curriculum," said
Prof Saitoti. He supported sentiments expressed by Egerton VC James Tuitoek,
who had earlier defended the 8-4-4 system, saying it produced quality
grandaunts just like its predecessor, the 'A' level system.
"Quality education is an important tool for poverty reduction. We
cannot achieve our Millennium Development Goals targets without investing
heavily in education," Prof Tuitoek said.
Prof Saitoti, however, said for education to make an impact, there had
to be attitude change and confidence imparted on the students.
Huge potential
The chief executive of Celtel Kenya, Mr. David Murray, said the competition
revealed the enormous potential college students in East Africa had.
"The teams competed for the largest prize ever to be given away to
students in Africa in an exciting new knock-out tournament style quiz
format premiering in the three countries," said Mr. Murray
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