Arts partnership gives slum area’s youth a chance to enter HE

Access to higher education may be opening up for young people from Lunga Lunga, Kenya, thanks to an initiative of the Technical University of Kenya (TUK), the Wajukuu Arts Collective Studio in the capital, Nairobi, and the Berlin University of the Arts, as well as seniors from the German city’s Club of Engineers and Friends.

The partnership is part of a TUK outreach programme that focuses on enabling underprivileged youths to gain entrepreneurship skills, scholarship opportunities and student exchange programmes in Kenya and Germany.

TUK faculty visited the Visual Cultures Expert panel in Kassel, Germany, in 2023. The panel explores visual cultures in relation to aspects such as sustainable development. In 2024, representatives from Germany and TUK visited the Wajukuu Art Centre as part of efforts by TUK to support the centre that was enabling the children to expand their talents through art.

Earlier in 2025, and as a result of the previous collaborations, TUK began working on a way to integrate Wajukuu’s programme with the institution’s academic system. This initiative is expected to help with the development of a curriculum tailor-made to meet the needs of these youngsters through the administration of short courses intended to grant everyone a chance at higher education.

The Berlin University of the Arts’ role is to help with training in short courses. Seniors from the Club of Engineers and Friends, Berlin, have also assisted to source funds to run the short courses.

Lunga Lunga

Lunga Lunga is an informal settlement located in the Mukuru slum, Nairobi. And with a population of more than half a million people, Mukuru is one of the poorest and most insecure slums located in Nairobi’s industrial area.

Lunga Lunga plays host to Wajukuu Arts Collective Studio which is a community-based organisation aimed at improving the lives of children in the settlement through arts and craft.

The slum is characterised by families which cannot comfortably provide proper education to their children up to university or college level. In most cases, children from these families tend to drop out of school at an early age, thus limiting their academic potential and even exposing them to crime.

However, a lack of education does not necessarily mean a lack of talent or skill – and this is where Wajukuu Arts plays a critical role.

“We started Wajukuu Arts back in 2003 with the intention of using arts and culture to empower children in this community,” said Shabu Mwangi, the director of the Wajukuu Arts Collective Studio.

“It is a social programme that provides a platform for young kids to express themselves through their various skills and talents. Currently, we are able to provide students with short courses that include photography, web design, woodwork, welding, fashion and design, visual arts and coding,” Mwangi told University World News.

Mwangi explained that the partnership is a means to find a way to make it possible to integrate the courses offered at Wajukuu arts with TUK’s academic system, thus enabling the students to earn valid academic certificates and even pursue degrees and diplomas.

He added that the partnership will see the students do their practical work at Wajukuu Arts while TUK covers the theory part. No fee is required for the students at Wajukuu Arts, and the programme is open to everyone who wishes to join.

Community and HE meet

Dr Mary Clare Kidenda, the chair of the department of design and creative media, TUK, said the idea of working with Wajukuu Arts originated from TUK’s desire to create an avenue for self-employment for the needy people in the community (in this case, Lunga Lunga) by developing a working art space, promoting young talent for selling artworks and creating an income-generating activity.

Whereas the idea was initially to help young people develop their skills, competence as well as talent and to link them to resources and institutions that can utilise them, the university and its partners now want to secure a clearer entry point into higher education.

TUK will provide academic oversight, curriculum development expertise, and a clear academic pathway for students in the Lunga Lunga community.

“It will ensure that the educational programmes meet national academic standards, while also aligning with local needs. It will also facilitate credit transfers and offer opportunities for further studies, enabling students from the community-based programme to seamlessly transition into diploma or degree courses at the university,” Kidenda told University World News.

While joining a higher education institution in Kenya demands certain academic qualifications, primarily high school academic certification, this partnership seeks to use a more diverse and inclusive measure of qualification that bypasses the traditional norms.

Broadening access

According to TUK, students who go through the programme and are seeking to pursue a diploma or degree at TUK will be assessed based on competencies and skills acquired through the programme, rather than solely on traditional academic qualifications.

“While conventional university admission often requires direct completion of secondary education with high KCSE [Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education] scores, this partnership introduces a more flexible, inclusive model. It recognises practical skills, vocational training, and continuous assessments as valid measures of academic potential,” Kidenda said.

“This approach broadens access to higher education for learners who may not meet the traditional entry criteria but have demonstrated readiness through alternative learning pathways,” she added.

The programme’s curriculum is designed to focus on the specific socio-economic and developmental needs of the Lunga Lunga community. It will include practical, locally relevant training in performing and visual arts, small-scale trade, and entrepreneurship by engaging local stakeholders and assessing the area’s unique challenges and opportunities.

Additionally, the programme will incorporate life skills, digital literacy and civic education to empower learners to contribute meaningfully to community development.

“The goal is to provide education that is academically enriching and immediately impactful in improving livelihoods,” Kidenda said.

Young people can start joining TUK as soon as the system for their transition has been completed and approved. Wajukuu has already trained 30 youngsters who are awaiting certification to join the higher education system.

Wajukuu Arts offers a refuge to avoid crime and drug abuse and create an environment for children and youth to express their thoughts in order to overcome life’s challenges.

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, or KCSE, is the final exam that high school learners must undertake to qualify for joining university or college. The certificate is a requirement to be eligible to join higher education programmes.