Equip Commission for University Education to streamline varsity courses accreditation

Students in private universities taking courses not approved by the Commission for University Education (CUE) have recently learnt, to their utter dismay, that they cannot get help from the campuses to resolve the problem, because CUE’s bark is louder than its bite.

In a case involving one such university, the commission’s response to queries from this newspaper was that the law does not give it leeway to take punitive action against such institutions by cancelling their charters.

Lack of options

In this particular case, CUE summoned the university’ management for a meeting and provided an option; transfer the affected students to other institutions offering the accredited courses. That’s as far as they could help. This revelation is a shock for many students. It seems inconceivable that Universities offering unaccredited degree courses can actually get away with it because they cannot be held accountable by the regulator. There is no system in place by the Government that offers mitigation for affected students.

Bear in mind that many parents sell their land, goats, cows and anything of value to provide their children with what, in their wisdom, is the best education only to discover several semesters later that the degree course is not only unrecognised, but their child has no recourse. .

The Government has watched the situation persist without comprehensive action (students wishing to verify the eligibility of courses can check out the web address: http://www.cue.or.ke/approval-of-academic-programmes).

CUE must be empowered to take legal action against universities that offer unaccredited degree courses, including taking away their charters and compelling them to refund any monies students paid for the course.

Curriculum development

The Government must also streamline the process of accrediting courses, bearing in mind the changing needs of Kenya’s job market.

In other words, while it is important to follow the law, the Government must accept that universities that are most in demand worldwide are those that incorporate market research into their curriculum development, and introduce courses that take care of specific needs.

The current system is too punitive and archaic, and prone to abuse since private varsities are at the mercy of their public counterparts that are mired in bureaucratic red tape and a myriad other issues.

CUE’s role cannot be to stifle innovation in universities even as it ensures they operate in line with the law. How efficient and fast is the process for having university course approved?

Could it be that private universities are way ahead of the government in adjusting their curriculum offering and are being penalised for the same? It is important to be fair to all, but universities must follow the law.

The proliferation of universities seems to have overwhelmed the Government and the current laws are hopelessly out of touch with the challenges in university education.

Meanwhile, the loud silence from the Education Cabinet Secretary and his Permanent Secretary on this matter is cause for concern.