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By James Ratemo
Kenya is helping war-torn Somali set up a Commission for Higher Education (CHE).
Kenya’s CHE officials are training Somali officials in Nairobi on management and funding of the commission ahead of its setup.
This comes amid claims most graduates from Somalia universities are half-baked due to poor teaching and ill-equipped institutions.
"Somalia is rebuilding from ruins of war. We want to learn from Kenya’s best practices since it has the best Commission of Higher Education in the region," said Hussein Abdillahi of Hargeisa University in Somalia.
Kenya’s CHE CEO Everett Standa called on all local private and public universities to maintain high standards as per their charters and Letters of Interim Authority.
Risk closure
According to Prof Standa, a section of private universities are allegedly flouting quality standards and risk closure.
"We are investigating some universities. We have warned those concerned and will act if they do not change according to our recommendations," said Standa.
He declined to divulge the names of affected institutions.
He urged parents and students to check with the commission before enrolling in private universities and colleges lest they waste money on bogus diplomas and degrees.
"We have some universities that have not developed and we will not allow them to operate unless they improve on quality," said the former Vice Chancellor of Kenyatta University.
The Commission accredits programmes in universities and colleges continually.
New universities first receive Letter of Interim Authority and once fully-fledged are awarded a charter.
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