I'll not receive report, Magoha now tells VCs

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha (right) with Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang during the Kenya Editors Guild Press Club in Nairobi yesterday. [David Gichuru, Standard]

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has rejected a report by vice chancellors opposing merger of universities. 

Magoha said the report was dead on arrival and termed some of the proposals as “completely abhorrent” as he hit out at the vice chancellors for publishing the report in the media first before engaging him as planned.

“These people (VCs) were supposed to bring me a preliminary report on Wednesday and we discuss it as I wait for the Commission of University Education (CUE) to come up with the university report. Now you have published it, the CUE one is coming, I will not receive this one,” said Magoha.

The CS was speaking at the Press Club luncheon hosted by Kenya Editors Guild yesterday. The luncheon was dubbed Reforms in the Education Sector - What Talent for Kenya? 

In the report, the vice chancellors Committee of Public Universities have rejected the merger of universities arguing that more students will be eligible for admissions to university given the high enrollment in secondary schools.

Magoha strongly opposed the argument by the vice chancellors that having the right size of universities would reduce the number of students.

The CS said that President Uhuru Kenyatta had impressed on him the importance of quality in universities as opposed to numbers.

Magoha said that initially, the defence for the expansion of university had been fuelled by cheating and evaluations which he said he had ended in his earlier tenure as Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) boss.

University financing

The discussions also touched on the Competency-Based Curriculum, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), CUE, teacher management and university financing. 

Kenya Editors Guild President Churchill Otieno said that the discussions were timely and would shed more light on the ministry’s philosophy.