Why varsities plan to scrap assistant lecturer's posts

Kenya: Universities will no longer recruit assistant lecturers, a forum convened by the Commission for University Education (CUE) has decided.

The meeting that brought together public and private universities yesterday, resolved it is getting difficult to maintain this cadre of staff because they are permanent and pensionable yet they do not complete the required assignments to move grades.

According to recruitment and promotions guidelines adopted by all universities, assistant lecturers must be holders of a Masters degree from a recognised or accredited university. In addition, they should have registered for a doctor of philosophy degree (Phd) or its equivalent.

“Some do not complete their PhDs after many years of teaching at the university,” said Prof Francis Aduol of Technical University of Kenya.

He was moderating the meeting to harmonise standards of recruitment and promotions. The delegates unanimously agreed that ‘it is not possible to send the assistant lecturer out of university just because he has failed to complete his PhD because he is a permanent and pensionable staff.’

“So what happens when he has not completed his PhD yet that is the requirement? Should he remain an assistant lecturer until retirement,” posed one of the delegates.

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The meeting also set up a seven-member committee drawn from public and private universities to establish whether the current university academic staffs holding various titles have the necessary qualifications. It resolved that scrapping off the position assistant lecturers is to enhance quality education. The select committee will also scrutinise and recommend the rating points of various publications.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

CUE Chief Executive officer David Some said the Constitution and the Universities Act 2012 has set the bar so high for public staff recruitment noting that the existing guidelines must be revised.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said the extreme variance in university staff recruitment in each university must be addressed. In a speech read on his behalf by his PS Dr Bellio Kipsang, Kaimenyi said all institutions must establish internal quality assurance and standards to ensure the quality of education is raised.

“We must protect quality of education and integrity of what we produce,” said Prof Kaimenyi.

‘A university shall have adequate and competent human resources to carry out its mandate in accordance to its human resource policy,’ reads number four of CUE guidelines.