I deliberately avoided wading into the unfortunate circumstances around the passing of Jason Ardey because of the many grey areas surrounding it. Prof Ardey, who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor, came under intense scrutiny over allegations concerning his academic work, qualifications and background. Cambridge subsequently opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his appointment and time at the institution. He died last month shortly after resigning from his Cambridge fellowship.
To look at his case as a morality question is to miss a far bigger issue that is academic integrity. In this case, the reputation at stake wasn’t just an individual’s but also that of an entire institution and the credibility of the qualifications it confers on scholars.
In awarding a degree, what a university is effectively saying is: We have examined this person’s work, verified the academic process, and ascertained that their qualification meets the standards we set. Now that is an enormous responsibility that should be guarded jealously.
There is a worrying trend unfolding in Kenya’s education space that should worry every academic institution, every employer and every citizen keen on protecting our scholarly integrity not just in the region but globally.
In the past week, two politicians have been flagged by institutions over questions concerning degrees they claim to have attained from them. While we expect relevant authorities to investigate these two cases, the controversy surrounding them poses an even bigger challenge to stakeholders across the education ecosystem.
Our institutions are known to be very unforgiving when it comes to exam malpractice. A student caught cheating in an exam is likely to be suspended if not expelled. What then are we telling young people struggling through classes and inadequate government when they see the very certificates they are working so hard for being given under unclear circumstances? We have no basis to lecture our youth about the value of education and hard work when they can see that, ultimately, they don’t count.
For decades, Kenya has prided itself on academic excellence. We have produced scholars whose work has travelled far beyond our borders. Think Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Think the many Kenyan researchers, academics, doctors, engineers, lawyers and other professionals whose qualifications have carried the reputation of our institutions to the world.
Today, as some of our universities are fighting for credibility in an increasingly competitive academic environment, it serves us little to try to reclaim our coveted place while, at the same time, allowing the process behind the qualifications we confer to be compromised.
There have also been concerns among employers, particularly in the private sector, about the preparedness of some graduates for the workplace. It is concerning that employers sometimes have to spend considerable resources retraining graduates before they can perform tasks for which they were trained. Controversies around the integrity of qualifications only amplify questions about the quality of our higher education, making it harder for our graduates to compete for employment.
Consider the lecturers, administrators and other university staff who diligently teach, supervise, examine and verify academic work. It would be too much to expect them to continue doing the right thing when shortcuts are recognised over integrity.
This is why we need to work at rebuilding faith in our institutions, and it starts with holding them to account.
This is not to say that politicians with academic ambitions be treated with suspicion but the same standards must apply to everyone. Every admission, examination, thesis, every transcript must be held to the same standard. If we punish the young man found with a phone in an exam room, we must be equally serious about investigating questionable credentials. The integrity of the qualifications matters more than the status of the person holding it.
The credibility of our universities should not be compromised because ultimately, they produce more than certificates. They produce the human resource upon which this country depends.
It must mean something to any employer or institution anywhere in the world when someone says “I graduated from a Kenyan university.” That alone should open doors. We should not allow financial pressures, political influence, institutional weakness or negligence to dilute the standards behind it.
