KENYA: Professions roped in to run universities

Professional associations and industry lobbies are to be roped in to the running of universities as the government moves to bridge the gap between training and the skills employers want. The proposal is contained in a draft Universities Bill prepared by a team that the Ministry of Higher Education appointed to align training with the constitution, writes David Herbling for Business Daily.

The bill proposes to establish a Commission for University Education that, if approved, will replace the Commission for Higher Education. Lobbies will appoint representatives to the new commission. Associations will also be represented at the university councils, the bill proposes.

The draft comes in the wake of a disagreement between universities and professional associations over the quality of degrees offered in technical disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Recently, the Engineers Registration Board declined to recognise graduates from Kenyatta, Egerton and Masinde Muliro universities.
Full report on the Business Daily site