Former president Mwai Kibaki asks universities to embrace technical and environment courses

Former president Mwai Kibaki confers doctorate degree to one of the grandaunts at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology [MMUST]. PHOTO: DUNCAN OCHOLLA/STANDARD

KAKAMEGA: Immediate former president Mwai Kibaki has asked universities to rethink on courses so as to supply graduates to fit all development spheres and boost environmental conservation.

He said education holds the power to expand society's ability to discover and create new intervention to fulfil a better future for humanity.

Speaking at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) on Friday, Kibaki encouraged educationists to consider offering more technical courses to fill the national gap needed to make Kenya an industrially developed state.

"The sure way to eradicate run away joblessness and poverty among youth in Kenya and Africa at large lies in industrialization which will spearhead the manufacture of modern tools equipment and machinery to facilitate production of good. Graduates should be agents of change using the (education) resource at their disposal," said Kibaki who is the chancellor of MMUST during the university's 11th graduation where 3,100 graduated.

He took issue with the under exploration on the environmental conservation topic by universities which had made Africa be in a "deplorable" state that threatened its future.

"The unique Kakamega forest is good example of a potential case to study in the integrated environmental conservation. You can invite partners like county government and Unesco to establish measures to safe guard the environment. Africa has suffered untold environmental devastation," he said.

Education CS Fred Matiangi's message through higher education (science and technology) representative David Watene read the riot act to universities which had lose self-regulation on exam cheating.

"Let universities tighten loopholes in their self-regulation in exams to ape the ongoing nationwide effort to ensure credible results," read the statement.

It went on to hail the university for offering Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses in eight subjects and having its engineering course approved by the engineers' board of Kenya (EBK) after a protracted battle.

African development fund research in 2015 indicated that the ratio of technicians and associate professionals to craft and related trades workers for machine operators and assemblers in the industry is 33:1:2.

It projected a need of institutions to offer technical courses to tap in the ready job opportunities that are glaring.

"This ratio needs to be in 'reverse'. The emerging oil, gas and mining industry will support between 42,000 and 98,000 jobs over the next 10 years through its upstream needs, reads the research.

MMUST vice chancellor professor Fred Otieno encouraged prospective engineering students to enrol for the course.

"We have also measures to open a school of medicine in the 2017/2018 academic year and we have also opened up campuses in marginalised areas of Turkana and Lodwar," said he.