Arts programmes are just as important as science courses

 Students who register for these art-based programmes are actually more than their counterparts taking science courses

There is a greater focus on Science, Technology Engineering and Math courses in Kenyan Universities, according to a survey by CPS Research International.

The study, titled ‘The Status of Science Training in Kenyan Universities’ was released last week, with the objective of linking the growing preference for Science courses with better graduates and professionals. It found that there are more science programmes in public universities compared to private ones; that 69.1 per cent of the courses offered in university are science courses, while 30.9 per cent are Arts and Language Courses.

The trend seems to suggest that institutions are opting to provide these STEM courses partly to drive up admissions as these are a key source of revenue for the institutions. For private institutions with little to no government funding for equipment and research, it was found that there were similarly few science courses on offer.

The study went ahead to show that employers have a preference for graduates from certain institutions, believing them to be better qualified. Nairobi University scored highly in this regard. But a good majority of employers still believe that young people currently getting into the job market are under-qualified.

So, what do these findings mean for students of arts and language programmes?

According to Dr. Esther Katheu Mbiu, Lecturer and Chairperson of the Literature Department at Kenyatta University, the students who register for these art-based programmes are actually more than their counterparts taking science courses.

“The bigger story, hidden in the figures and percentages provided, is that even at public universities, where there are more science-based programmes on offer than art-based programmes, the total number of students registered into the (fewer!) art-based programmes is far higher than the total number of students registered into science-based programmes,” she explains.

She goes on to say: “The bitter truth, which the Kenyan society is running away from in running to universities, is that many of the students registering into academic art-based programmes should actually be in polytechnics pursuing practical diploma programmes in science and technology.” The objective of the study is to drive university education towards Vision 2030.