Kenya’s university double-intake a complete mess

By Mutai Eric

NAIROBI, KENYA: The move by the Ministry of Higher Education and the Joint Admissions Board to admit to university two groups of candidates in the year 2011 was initially plausible, but just two years down the line; it has proved to a worse experiment on the 8-4-4 system.

What is the need of joining university a year earlier for only one academic year then go for more than one-year break?

This is exactly what is happening in our public universities, forcing one to take more than the stipulated years to clear their studies.

Needless to say, this has also led to overstretching of already limited resources.

The lecture halls and halls of residence are over-crowded, and so are the catering services.

The lecturers have not been spared, they now have to work all year round - from lecturing, marking of exams and assessing their students on attachments - juggling all these at the same time and with minimal reward. The concept of double-intake has proved to be a complete mess.