Final Recommendations on University Education by the Presidential Working Committee on Education

The by the Presidential Working Committee on Education findings show that Universities in Kenya face many challenges that continue to weaken their performance in teaching and research. Universities in Kenya also perform poorly in international rankings, especially because of limited productivity in research and innovation. Governance is one issue that continues to impede Universities from effective performance. Appointments of senior management and members of governance organs, including the Chairs of Councils and Chancellors, tend to raise concerns because many considerations inform the appointment. Some of the considerations result in weakening the credibility of the appointment process.

The involvement of the PSC   in the appointment of top management of Universities in Kenya compromises their autonomy and should be discontinued. Several reasons account for this conclusion. First, apart from strategic oversight, the next most important role of boards is the CEO’s recruitment, performance oversight, and exit.

Even in instances where there is an additional authority to report to, as in the public sector, the Board takes the lead in the search and identification of the right CEO. On the other hand, a healthy Board/CEO relationship has a better chance of a good start when it is the Board taking responsibility for the selection of the CEO. Second, in keeping with the fiduciary responsibility a good Board with the best interests of the organisation in mind will know who and how to find the leader who is the right fit for the organisation.

The Board will also continually have a succession plan in place. It will similarly take the lead in consulting and involving key stakeholders in the search where appropriate. Thirdly, continuous interaction between the Board and the organisation enables the Board to better understand the organisation’s challenges, performance, and opportunities. The Board is, therefore, best suited to identify the right leader/CEO to take the organisation to the next level by addressing the challenges faced or identifying new opportunities.

Fourth, PSC is designed to recruit mainly for mainstream public service, while semi-autonomous agencies such as state corporations and Universities, which are created by various legal instruments, give mandates to their respective boards to hire and fire their CEOs (usually in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary).

Another challenge that weakens Universities’ performance is divisions between administrative organs and the faculties. Sometimes they pull in different directions in fulfilling the mandate of teaching and research. Furthermore, Universities in the country have occupied the same niches. All of them seem to be teaching almost the same courses irrespective of the areas that the University was founded to pursue.

Research governance is fragmented. There are many research institutes in the education sector and the country without coherent coordination. Fragmented research governance, on its own, contrain the effective contribution to national development, because every institution and sector has goals that may be focusing on different aspects of the national development priorities.

The Open University of Kenya (OUK) will provide equitable access to University education and opportunities for lifelong learning. ODeL has a mode of delivery that will supplement the traditions of programme delivery. This will reduce pressure on infrastructure. Leveraging technology in delivery in the education sector will lead to the effective use of digital resources, which will, in turn, lead to reaching more numbers and remote areas of the country. Digital technology will certainly be of benefit to students, provided there are sufficient resources to service the use of this technology. Universities are yet to fully prepare for CBC. Universities graduate training programmes are yet to make the necessary shift towards CBC and align with the objectives of this curriculum.

Recommendations

  On Governance

1. Amend the Universities Act, 2012:
   • To provide for the identification of Chancellors in public Universities by a selection panel constituted by the Cabinet Secretary to recommend three nominees for appointment by the
   • To provide for the appointment of a selection panel to identify and recommend nominees for consideration as Chairperson and Members of Council, by the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Ministry of
   • To have the University Council carry out the recruitment and appointment of Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Principals of Colleges and Deputy Principals in Public Universities without the involvement of the Public Service
2. Amend the Universities Act to provide for recruitment of Deans of Schools and Faculties through competitive appointment rather than
3. Amend the State Corporations Act, 2015 to include Universities in the list of exempted entities to make them In addition, income generation entities by Universities should be allowed to operate under respective Universities.
4. All Technical Universities should be Chartered under Section 25 (2)(a). Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) and Technical University of Kenya (TUK) should be re-Chartered under this
5. The Government to provide enhanced support to University research by:
   • Allocating one-third of the 2% provided in the STI Act, 2013 annually to Universities and
   • Exempting the University scholarly research and innovation
   • MoE to develop a framework on institutionalising University and industry linkages by promoting University and industry staff engagements in training and practical
6. CUE to develop a Higher Education Qualification Framework (HEQF) to equate and provide learners with deficits in some discipline an opportunity to bridge in order to meet admission requirements for University level

On Open University and ODeL

1. MoE to operationalise an Open University in Kenya by 2023/2024 financial
2. CUE to Review the University’s Standard and Guidelines, 2014, to provide criteria on minimum admission qualifications for
3. MoE to develop a National Policy Framework on Open Distance and eLearning (ODeL).
4. MoE and ICT Authority to fast track affordable broadband high-speed Internet connectivity to Tertiary educational

9.4.1.3    On Competency Based Education and Training

1. The Commission for University Education to spearhead the development of the University Competency-Based Curriculum Framework (UCBCF).
2. Universities should retool all academic staff in order to implement the
3. Universities to review their Bachelor of Education degree programme to align with the CBC by the start of 2023/2024 academic year.