Mount Kenya University’s engagement reduces inequalities

Highly unequal societies are less effective at reducing poverty than those with low levels of inequality. They grow more slowly and struggle to sustain economic growth.

Disparities in health and education make it challenging for people to break out of the cycle of poverty, leading to the transmission of disadvantage from one generation to the next, according to the United Nations’ World Social Report 2021. This is a challenge that Mount Kenya University (MKU) in Thika strives to unravel by reducing inequalities in Africa and globally.

Earlier in 2021, MKU was awarded the UNAI SDG Hub 10: Reduced Inequalities (United Nations Academic Impact Sustainable Development Goal 10 hub) for its efforts in teaching, research and community-led initiatives on reducing inequalities in Africa and beyond.

The institution has developed its footprint in East Africa and the Horn of Africa with campuses across Kenya, in Rwanda and a network of open, distance, and electronic learning (ODeL) centres in Uganda, Burundi, Hargeisa in Somaliland, and Garowe in Puntland, Somalia.

Empowerment key to bridging gaps

The key drivers to solving the big inequality gaps, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, lie in the legitimate efforts to empower and equip the youth (who make up more than 60% of the population) with, not only education, but also skills that solve key societal challenges.

MKU has mandated itself to solving this through key initiatives such as establishing the Graduate Enterprise Academy (GEA) and the MKU Foundation.

The foundation supports students who struggle to raise tuition fees through grants and ensures inclusive learning for students with disabilities.

The ability to work with these students has been made possible and accelerated through partnerships with like-minded entities. These include the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa, that provides assistive devices to students with impaired vision.

Professor Peter Wanderi, who oversees the MKU UNAI SDG Hub 10: Reduced Inequalities and the MKU Foundation, and the GEA, said that radicalising Africa’s youth, including graduates, indicates a larger problem in society.

Wanderi said that the founder of MKU, Professor Simon Gicharu, and the board of directors feel that merely increasing access to higher education and churning out graduates is not enough.

“We need to empower them to develop a new mindset, to not only offer services in different organisations but also be entrepreneurs,” he said.

Partnerships boost MKU’s efforts

It is this approach that led to establishing the GEA that offers business acceleration support and networking to empower innovative young entrepreneurs.

“We started with the first cohort of alumni students who had business ideas and took them through residential training, which later proved to be an expensive venture due to low start-up success rate, but we did not give up,” Wanderi said. A second cohort has since been commissioned.

The MKU success story of reducing inequalities through entrepreneurial skills development among the youth was made possible through accelerated partnership efforts with, among others, the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO, and the Leuphana University of Lüneburg in Germany. The private sector plays a big role in providing mentorship and seed capital.

“We are not only meeting the SDG 10 but, also [SDG] 17, [SDG] 1 and [SDG] 4 that address partnerships, poverty, and quality education to reduce inequalities in Africa,” Wanderi said.

Partners include the Bidco Group, Equity Bank, and Family Bank. MKU has also embraced Leuphana University’s Students Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) that offers seed capital of US$100 that enables students at the university to acquire entrepreneurial skills using real money and get real experience in real time.

Prison project an opportunity

The university has taken a step further to partner with the Kenya Prisons Services, particularly the Naivasha Maximum Prison, to empower the inmates to reduce recidivism.

To contribute to rehabilitation, certain inmates at Naivasha (and other prisons in the country) teach at different levels of the Kenyan primary and secondary educational programmes. The student inmates eventually sit for the national examinations to advance their education.

More than 70 inmates at Naivasha Maximum Prison have enrolled as teachers and there are approximately 1,600 students. The teacher-prisoners have limited to no technical teaching skills. This gap has, for the past four years, given the MKU the opportunity to offer further technical skills training.

Any learner who excels at secondary school level obtains modules towards university education and, upon graduation, the inmates get a chance for presidential clemency. Through the School of Education, the university has received financial support from the Kenya Research Fund as well as from the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO to provide digitalised access to education through the use of tablets.

Health and safety efforts rewarded

The university has partnered with Partners for Care, a local NGO, to carry out public health community outreach activities in various parts of the country, such as eradicating jiggers among communities in Marsabit and Kilifi counties.

In addition, the partners have distributed more than 3,500 water backpacks to poor communities in Nairobi, Laikipia and Embu Counties for hand-washing during COVID-19 and to promote transport, storage and the consumption of safe water.

These efforts were recognised in 2020 when the university was awarded the University Award for Innovative Civic Engagement by the Talloires Network, a growing global coalition of 417 university presidents, vice-chancellors and rectors in 79 countries.

The award recognised the efforts of the university community in providing environmentally friendly solutions for community problems through research.

Additional efforts on community engagement through tree planting training endeavours are jointly undertaken with the Mully Children’s Family (MCF). The MCF as an institution daily supports more than 3,000 former street children by providing food, accommodation and education.

The MKU-MCF partnership allows the MKU team of students, faculty and alumni to offer mentoring and motivational support to the thousands of children at MCF.