KEY 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.
1. 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
.
2. THE BROAD POLICY CROSS-BORDER
EDUCATION
• The Govt’s 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 Government’s 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. Back to
top 3. 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. Back to
top 3.1 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 ) 3.1.1 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. 3.1.2 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. 3.1.3 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.
3.1.4 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 Back to
top 3.1.6 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. 3.1.7 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) Back to
top 4. 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. 4.2 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.
CHE’s 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. 4.3 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.
a. 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. (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. Back to
top 5. 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. 5.2 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 Back to
top 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. 5.4 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 doesn’t
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. 5.5 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. Back to
top 6. 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.
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