Ranking plan to shake up local universities

The announcement by Kenya’s Commission for Higher Education (CHE) that it plans to start ranking universities has elicited mixed reactions, write Edith Fortunate and Esther Mwangi for Saturday Nation.

According to the new commission chair, Professor David Some, the exercise, which will run for an initial pilot period of three years to give universities a chance to understand it, aims to improve university education in Kenya. “Ranking is one of the ways to stimulate competition among universities, promote quality, enhance access and elicit public confidence,” he said during an interview recently.

CHE, a government organisation charged with the responsibility of enforcing learning standards, will lead the process. The proposed rankings come at a time when Kenya is seeking ways to improve higher education standards, which have been eroded by overcrowded classes and inadequate numbers of teaching staff. Perceptions of declining quality are believed to be pushing more Kenyan students to foreign universities.
Full report on the Saturday Nation site