KENYA: Lecturers block double intake plans

Plans by public universities to conduct a double intake are likely to suffer a blow after lecturers vowed to block the move, writes Oliver Musembi for The Nation.

University Academic Staff Union (Uasu) officials have vowed to scuttle the move aimed at clearing the backlog in admissions and ensure students do not have to wait for two years to join the university after their KCSE exams. The more than 4,800 lecturers under the union are threatening to lay down tools, saying they were not consulted before the decision was made.

The Joint Admissions Board announced recently that public universities would admit 32,611 students in 2011. The figure is 8,000 more than in 2010. A weekend meeting of Uasu's Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology chapter threatened to withdraw services unless pertinent issues concerning lecturers' welfare were addressed.
Full report on The Nation site

The Nation also reports that an MP has said the dispute over the proposed double intake at public universities could be resolved by taking some of the students to private institutions. Students qualifying to join university should be given vouchers to study in private institutions at the expense of the government. "We cannot afford to compromise on the quality of university education. The committee on education has therefore recommended to the government that the voucher system be used to pay fees at the students' universities of choice," chairman of the parliamentary select committee on education David Koech said in an interview.
Full report on The Nation site