Committee likely to end self-sponsored degree plan

It is expected that in less than a month a committee appointed by Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed will recommend the dissolution of Module II programmes in local public universities, taking on board recommendations from the inter-ministerial task force she appointed two weeks ago that has been looking into delivery of services in institutions of higher learning, writes Muiru Ngugi for Daily Nation.

Self-sponsored Module II or parallel degree programmes were introduced in the late 1990s as an innovative way for universities to supplement their operational capital. They also stemmed the flow of Kenyan students to foreign universities and provided employment to part-time lecturers. But the programmes helped highly commercialise higher education, undermining serious scholarship. With the degrees being sought solely for job promotion, the system was also abused as students pursued degrees at any cost, using all means necessary.

The task force has been working quietly, visibly sceptical of views from university administrators and lecturers alike. With unemployment rates for university graduates reaching epidemic levels, the government is keen to revert university education to the earlier elitist model to allow the majority of the youth to be trained as artisans and technicians deemed to be crucial in the fulfilment of both ‘Agenda Big-Four’ and Vision 2030 ambitions.
Full report on the Daily Nation site