Only 600 colleges pass Education ministry credibility test

By Ally Jamah

The Higher Education Ministry is expected to release an official list of approved colleges as part of it its war on bogus colleges.

Director of Accreditation and Quality Assurance N K Gakungu informed TheStandard that the list includes colleges that offer quality education. "We advise parents and students to refer to the list before enrolling in college or for a course. Otherwise they will be wasting their time and money on unrecognised institutions," he says.

The list reportedly contains about 600 colleges, meaning that the thousands of colleges currently in operation are unregistered.

"We urge all unregistered colleges to come forward and be approved or else they will shunned by parents and students," he says.

The official list will be published in the newspapers and on the ministry’s website to publicise it.

"In the past it was difficult for a student to tell if a college is credible, but now this official list will help eliminate the many bogus colleges," says Gakungu.

According to the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer Dorcas Ambuto the list has been ready for several weeks but its release has been delayed by suspension of William Ruto as Education Minister.

The new Acting Minister, Hellen Sambili is yet to settle in.

In late August, Ruto ordered all middle-level colleges to register but only a modest number — about 150 — have responded.

A source who is familiar with the operations of private colleges blamed the Government of being too slow in processing applications for registrations and carrying out the necessary inspections.

"There are many colleges that meet all the requirements for approvals but may be locked out from the list. They will be paying the price of inefficiencies in Government," he says.

He urged the Government to engage private colleges, saying they absorb students who have been locked out of the public higher education institutions.

"Even those that are not up to the required standards deserve encouragement and support to raise the bar. Rushing to shut them down is not the best solution," he suggested.