DOBA expands partnership with Kenyan versities to offer quality online education

Irena Amic, Director Academic Programmes at DOBA Business School with Chairperson Jasna Dominko.

NAIROBI, KENYA: Growth in Kenya’s technology space continues to attract international investors looking for opportunities in local market.

On Wednesday, DOBA Faculty which is one of the leading European online business schools announced a collaboration with Strathmore University to launch its online education products.

The Slovenia based university said it plans to invest Sh95 million in the next three years in marketing its Masters and degree programmes to Kenyans.

“We are impressed by steps Kenya has made in the last few years in the technology space making it easier to launch online education programmes, we target to enroll 200 students mostly professionals in the next five years,”  said DOBA Business School Chairperson Jasna Dominko.

“Already we have accreditation from the Ministry of Education and working closely with local partners to offer Masters and Bachelor degree programmes,” she added.

DOBA says it has students in 34 countries and will use its global networks of business experts, European teachers, and technical support to appeal to Kenyan students.

DOBA Faculty is known for a mode of fully online learning where students interact with their lecturers and professors through a set of technology tools and platforms over the internet. Most of its students are working executives who opt to study from their offices or home. 

Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, Irena Amic- Director of Academic Programmes said the Business School would now proceed to introduce in Kenya two programmes in the English language: the Masters in International Business Management and the bachelor in Marketing, Social Media and Public Relations. “Our institution will invest slightly over Sh95 million in the next 3 years to market these programmes. We hope to also launch public-private partnership program seeking to get employers in Kenya to endorse as “corporate responsibility” a policy on e-learning to encourage employees to sign up and study from office to acquire new skills in an international learning environment.” She added: 

“We are targeting companies that are signing off a lot of study leave time every year. Our typical clientele are the busy professionals who want to save time by studying from the comfort of their office as well as career mothers who want to study from home.” 

The number of Kenyans studying online is expected to grow because Kenyans warmed faster to technology than other African countries.  “More than 25 per cent of student around the world are studying online today. In Europe 30 per cent of all student are studying online and it is projected that by 2025, the total number of student preferring to study online will hit 80 Million,” Ms Amic said citing figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).Kenyans have shown interest in the fully online learning model with DOBA recording over 600 inquires this year alone. 

At least three Kenyan universities have launched some form of open learning to deliver the flexibility and convenience of distance learning to their student. DOBA, however said, the fully online learning model it offers varied from the form launched in the Kenyan market  as everything from admission to graduation is done without any physical contact.  “Unlike open learning, our classrooms are live, and students interact with each other, with tutors and professors everyday in a virtual learning environment.”