State should take lead in reforming our universities

President Uhuru Kenyatta with his Deputy William Ruto (second right) during the University of Nairobi graduation in December last year. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The storm over the 118 PhD degrees that were granted at one public university masks bigger issues in Kenya’s higher education.

Let us go beyond the emotions and raw competition among universities into real issues. One, we have moved from scarcity to plenty and we seem unable to handle this new deluge of higher degrees.