MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING MATERIALS FOR;

MEM 5205: HIGHER EDUCATION PLANNING

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 July 2013

COURSE OUTLINE

COURSE PURPOSE.
Higher education planning is a one semester course for the masters’ students. This unit equips
the learners with knowledge and skills of understanding the formulation and implementation of
higher educational planning strategies with an aim of improving higher education.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the unit the learner should be able to:
i. Examine strategies for improving higher education.
ii. Discuss ways of mobilizing required resources for higher education.
iii. Evaluate challenges facing higher education in developing countries.
iv. Formulate and implement policies for improving higher education.

COURSE CONTENT
Issues in planning and implementation in the education sector: regulative and authority in higher
education development planning: planning strategies for removal of regional disparities in higher
education: planning for relevance in higher education: planning for quality, equity and efficiency
in higher education: principals and practices of financial allocation to higher education:
administration of institutions of higher learning: problems and practices: Challenges facing
Higher Education Loans Board and Policy framework.

TEACHING AND LERANING METHODOLOGIES

Lectures; Tutorials; Class Discussions; Term Papers and Assignments

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENTS

Handouts; Notes

COURSE ASSESMENT
Examination-60%; Continuous Assessment-40% Total-100%.

INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
Education is seen as the primary means of social mobility, national cohesion and socio-economic
development. Since independence the Government of Kenya has been committed to the
provision of education to her citizens. Kenya like other parts of the world has experienced the
impact of globalisation, increasing inter-dependence between and within states and the need for
people to become responsible citizens both nationally and internationally. Similarly, trade and
communications have been revolutionised, while human capital requirements, especially as a
result of the ICT revolution, has experienced rapid growth. Consequently, the government has
continued to reform the education and training sector to respond to these emerging challenges
thus ensuring that the country‟s goals and aspirations are realised.

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The Constitution of Kenya (2010) has the Bill of Rights at its core while the Kenya Vision 2030,
acknowledges the need to reform the education and training to create a sector fit for purpose.
This has led to the policy provisions embodied in this document which address the constitutional
requirements and national aspirations as well as offer direction in modernising and re-branding
the country‟s education and training system. Kenya Vision 2030 places great emphasis on the
link between education and the labour market, the need to create entrepreneurial skills and
competences, and strong public and private sector partnerships. It articulates the development of
a middle-income country in which all citizens will: have embraced entrepreneurship, be able to
engage in lifelong learning, perform more non-routine tasks, be capable of more complex
problem-solving, be able to take more decisions, understand more about what they are working
on, require less supervision, assume more responsibility, and as vital tools towards these ends,
have better reading, quantitative reasoning and expository skills. This has considerable
importance for the kind of education and training system required to deliver the requisite skills,
competencies and attitudes. As such there will be need to address issues related to quality,
service delivery, curriculum, relevance, teacher development and management at all levels as
well as trainers in the areas of technology and entrepreneurial skill development.

Relevance of Higher Education Policies and Practice,states that the first universities in Africa
were modelled using a framework designed by the colonial powers. The main purpose being the
nurturing and sustenance of intellectual elite through structures and curricula that were inherently
similar to those in their countries. The development of higher education in Africa in general
embodied elitism, physical and cultural detachment, restrictive and narrow curricula which laid
emphasis on humanities and social sciences .The exclusivity of higher education had its roots
during this period, a phenomenon that was retrogressive considering the desperate need for
highly skilled manpower to propel the economy of the newly independent country. This
perspective is indeed critical in understanding the genesis of a higher education system whose
characteristics were pegged on external prejudicial yardsticks. Although this may not be overtly
mentioned as a major problem, overtones of its effects have clearly been felt within the Kenyan
Education System.By the early 1960’s, universities in British Africa had produced
only one hundred and fifty graduates (150) in the field of Agriculture. Due to the skeleton
higher education institutions available they were naturally valued as symbols of prestige.
This presented a problem because these same institutions were required to churn sufficient
skilled manpower to not only replace the outgoing, largely expatriate staff but also
propagate development. These universities were based on a colonial model that was
inhibitive in its response to the needs of a new nation .This example indicates the insufficient
human resources that were being produced by the existing universities. It further exemplifies the
loopholes perhaps in the entire education system as a whole considering that the economies of
these countries were (and still are) primarily dependant on agriculture. The need for a policy
change was therefore imperative.

In order to address these issues, the government provides policy direction for reforms in
education service delivery through introduction of technical, talent and academic curriculum
pathways. Information Communication Technologies (ICT) will be used as a teaching-learning
tool. Kenya Vision 2030 also recognizes the need for a literate citizenry and sets goals for
eliminating adult illiteracy while increasing learning achievements. Under the Constitution,

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education and training in Kenya is governed and managed under a two-tier government, the
National Government and the County Governments. Education and training is structured as
follows; basic education, TIVET and University education. Basic education covers two years of
pre-school, 8 years of primary education and 4 years of secondary education. Tertiary education
comprises TIVET, teacher training and higher education. The Constitution of Kenya (2010)
articles 43.1f, 53.1b and 55a makes education a right of every Kenyan while the Kenya Vision
2030 underscores the importance of education in ensuring relevant human and social capital for
sustainable development. In particular, the Constitution guarantees every child to free and
compulsory basic education. It further provides for access to affordable tertiary education,
training and skills development. The reform in education and training shifts emphasis from
knowledge-reproduction to knowledge-production.

According to the Bill of Rights, basic education is a fundamental human right. This implies that
citizens can hold the state accountable for ensuring that every child aged 4 to 17 years is in
school and receiving quality education. This is consistent with the international education
commitments and other international conventions to which Kenya is a signatory. For example,
the African Charter on the Human and Peoples‟ Rights, Article 17, provides that every
individual shall have a right to education; the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child, Article 11, articulates detailed provisions on the right to free and compulsory basic
education for the child and, state‟s obligation towards that right; while the United Nations
International Convention on Social and Economic Rights, Article 13, declares the recognition of
the right of all to education and the objectives .
Enrolment and growth in universities have been increasing since the establishment of the first
Kenyan university, the University of Nairobi, in 1970. There are 7 public universities, 24 public
university colleges and 26 recognized private universities. The total enrolment in public
universities has increased from 3,443 students in 1970 to 159,752 students comprising of 59,665
females and 100,087 males in 2009/2010. In private universities the total enrolment for 2003/
2004 was 9,541 students made up of 5,128 females and 4,413 males, growing to 37,179
composed of 14,462 females and 22,717 males in 2009/2010. In the 2009/10 academic year, the
total number of those enrolled in public and private universities rose to 196, 931. However,
despite the increase in enrolment, the transition rate from secondary level to university still
remains low. Regarding gender parity, female students constituted 36.3 percent comprising of
45,193 of the total enrolled 124,563 in public universities, and 41.1 percent made up of 14,462 of
the total enrolled 35,179 in private universities in 2009/10.

The mandate of the Education Sector is to respond to the Constitution (2010) and
Kenya Vision 2030 and in so doing to propose strategies to address wastage and inefficiency;
improve financial management and accountability, and to make education in Kenya inclusive,
relevant and competitive regionally and internationally.

The provision of quality education and training to all Kenyans is fundamental to the
success of the Government’s overall development strategy. Kenya Vision 2030 articulates
the development of a middle income country in which all citizens will have embraced
entrepreneurship, be able to engage in lifelong learning, learn new things quickly, perform
more non-routine tasks, be capable of more complex problem-solving, willing and able to
take more decisions, understand more about what they are working on, require less

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supervision, assume more responsibility, and as vital tools towards these ends, have better
reading, quantitative, reasoning and expository skills. The mission of the Government of Kenya
is to create an education and training environment that equips learners with desired values,
attitudes, knowledge, skills and competencies, particularly in technology, innovation and
entrepreneurship, whilst also enabling all citizens to develop to their full capacity, live and work
in dignity, enhance the quality of their lives, and make informed personal, social and political
decisions as citizens of the Republic of Kenya.

TOPIC ONE: PLANNING

1.0 Topic objectives
By the end of this topic, the learner should be able to;
i. Define the term planning.
ii. Explain the process of planning in an institution or any organization.
iii. Examine the obstacles of planning in a learning institution.

1.1 Definition of Planning

This is the process by which an institution determines what is to be done. It is the process that
precedes the action during which resources in hand or those likely to be available are matched
against known or predicted conditions in order to achieve institutional goals. Planning is a future
oriented process. Forecasting is involved in the setting of goals and sub-goals as well as
objectives.Ways and means by which the institution attains it’s goal and objectives efficiently
and effectively are set.
Planning has got two time frames namely a long -range plan and a short-range plan. A long-
range plan takes two to five years or more while a short-range plan covers monthly, weekly and
daily time frames. A long-range range plan has several characteristics. It has a statement of
purpose which answers the fundamental question:”What is the overall purpose of the
organization”. It has broad goals know as objectives. It may have other objectives such as
maintaining quality education, or securing a large number of customers. Long –range plans
consist of policies which serve as guidelines for the carrying out of activities. They help the
organization to achieve their objectives. A short-range plan is quite specific in its application and
consists of procedures, practices and rules. Its procedures tell the staff exactly what steps to take
in a given situation.
1.2 Characteristics of the Planning Process

Goal oriented-plans emanate from the objectives.

Primary function-basic of the management process. All other functions of management
are designed to attain the goals set under planning.

Pervasive-planning is the function of each and every manager irrespective of the level
and area of operation.

Intellectual process-old plans have to be revised or new ones have to be prepared.

Forward looking-planning involves looking ahead and preparing for the future.

Continuous process.

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Involves choice-a process procedure of decision making or choosing among alternative
course of action.

Integrated process-different plans are independent and interrelated lower plans serve as a
means towards the end of higher plans.

Planning is directed towards efficiency-planning facilitates the achievement of objectives
economically and efficiently.

1.3 Steps in giving planning

Being aware of opportunities.
Awareness of opportunities in the external environment as well as within the
organization is the starting point of planning. Future opportunities need to be seen and
clearly and completely known where they stand in the light of their strengths and
weaknesses, understand the problems they wish to solve and what they expect to gain.

Established objectives.
Objectives specify expected results and indicate what is to be done and where the
emphasis needs to be put. Objectives give direction to the major plans which by
reflecting these objectives define the objective of every major department.

Determining alternative courses.
Search for and determine alternative courses of action especially those that are not
immediately apparent and those that have the most fruitful possibilities.

Evaluating alternatives.
Evaluate alternatives in the light of premises and goals. One course may appear to be
more profitable but may require a large cash outlay and have a slow payback period
another may look less profitable but involve less risk.

Selecting a course.
This is a point at which the plan is adopted.Occassionaly evaluation and analysis of
alternatives and decision may be made to follow several courses rather than one.

Formulating derivative plans.
Derivative plans are required to support the basic plans.

Number plans by budgeting.
The final step in giving plans is to number them by converting them into budgets.

1.4 Importance of planning

 Focuses attention on objectives and results.
 Reduces uncertainty and risk.
 Provides sense of direction.
 Encourages innovation and creativity.
 Helps in coordination.
 Guides in decision-making.
 Provides a basic for decentralization of authority to lower levels of
management.
 Provides efficiency in operations and facilitates optimum utilization of
available resources.
 Facilitates control by providing the basis of control.

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1.5 Types of plans

• Mission
• Objectives or goals
• Strategies
• Policies
• Procedures
• Rules
• Programmes
• Budgets

1.6 Obstacles to planning

 Based on forecasts that are never 100% accurate.
 It is time consuming and an expensive process.
 May result to internal inflexibilities and procedural rigidities.
 Often requires some changes I the existing ones.
 May create a force sense of security in the institution.
 Powerful people may exert pressure to ensure that plans serve their own interest.
 The effectiveness of planning may be affected by external forces which are beyond the
control of those responsible of preparing the plans.
 Some leaders may have negative attitude to planning.
 An open system approach involving continuous monitoring of the environment should be
adopted.
 Lack of education and training on the art of planning

REVIEW QUESTIONS
i. Define the term planning.
ii. Explain the process of planning in an institution or any organization.
iii.Examine the obstacles of planning in a learning institution

TOPIC TWO: BUILDING A PLAN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

2.0 Topic objectives
By the end of this topic the learner should be able to:
i. Explain the concept of planning in higher education
ii. Establish the impact of three imperatives to planning in higher education
iii. Examine the steps to higher education implementation of the smarter balanced
assessment system.

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 iv. State and explain steps to higher education implementation of the smarter balanced
assessments system
2.1 Definition of Higher Education
Higher Education refers to all formal and non-formal education and training offered after the
Basic Education cycle and comprises middle level institutions and university levels of education
and training. Under this category are found:
(i) All Teacher Training Colleges
(ii) All Technical and Vocational Institutions
(iii) All Sectoral Colleges within Government Ministries
(iv) All Institutions offering Pre-University Academic Programmes
(v) All Private and Public Chartered Universities
(vi) All Non-Governmental Institutions offering commercial and other skill-development courses
beyond Basic Education provided approved by the Commission of Higher Education.
The term higher education within the Kenyan context includes: public and private universities,
polytechnics, teacher training institutes, technical training institutes, institutes of technology and
professional training institutions which could be government owned or commercial. All these
constitute the tertiary education sub-sector .

2.2 Building a plan for higher education

Planning in Higher Education clearly articulates a proven methodology that will yield strategic
thinking from groups and move organizations in an innovative direction. The exercises at each
step of the process are quite useful and I plan to refer to them often in the future
to help reinvigorate the planning process. Planning in Higher Education program and guide offer
a comprehensive approach for creating, organizing, and implementing a strategic plan. The
program provides step-by-step advice, case studies, and exercises for producing a successful
plan, whether for an institutional initiative or a departmental review. The guide is designed
specifically for leaders who are cognizant of the formidable challenges of strategic planning in
an environment with myriad communication and organizational complexities. Planning in
Higher Education (PHE) approach provides a seven-step blueprint for establishing planning
priorities, guiding the process, and bringing the plan’s goals to fruition. SPHE emphasizes key
strategies for effective leadership, communication, and assessment throughout the seven
planning phases discussed below.
Mission, Vision, and Values – reviewing the organization’s guiding principles as a useful
reference point for planning, especially when determining how to allocate resources and measure
achievements.
Collaborators and Beneficiaries – identifying critical stakeholders, with particular attention to
their expectations for the plan’s development and implementation.
Environmental Scan – examining cultural issues, resource concerns, and other factors that may
impinge on the planning process.
Goals – identifying an organization’s aspirations in tangible, achievable, and measurable terms.
Strategies and Action Plans – translating goals into a series of concrete strategies and activities
with appropriate timelines.
Plan Creation – describing goals and strategies in a manner that is comprehensive, yet easily
understood.
Outcomes and Achievements – monitoring progress and, most importantly, evaluating
outcomes.

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2.2.3 Making the Plan Work: The Three Imperatives
Plans fail for all sorts of reasons, but more often than not, problems arise from deficiencies in the
planning process, rather than in the plan itself. Breakdowns in the process can often be attributed
to shortcomings in leadership, communication, or assessment. Because of this, the SPHE model
emphasizes these three imperatives.
Leadership – Defining leadership roles and responsibilities is essential to a plan’s effectiveness.
Unless a project’s leaders are successful in creating a commitment to the initiative, a plan that’s
impressive on paper may fail to achieve its goals.
Communication – Without careful communication planning, organizational change is likely to
meet with resistance by colleagues. Successful communication requires attention to each group
likely to be affected by the planning process and the plan’s goals.
Assessment – Ongoing attention to assessment is necessary to monitor a plan’s progress and
assess its outcomes. These appraisals provide guidance for developing preplanning strategies,
monitoring the planning process, and judging whether a plan’s activities and strategies are
successful in fulfilling the organization’s goals. Attention to these three planning imperatives
helps to:
• Create a diverse leadership team with deep organizational knowledge, a variety of perspectives,
and an understanding of decision-making powers and boundaries
• Foster readiness, receptivity, and a shared sense of the need for change
• Gain a historical perspective on efforts to change an organization – and how perceptions of
previous planning efforts may exert an influence on current initiatives
• Anticipate concerns about the planning process and develop
Strategies to address those concerns
• Engage faculty, staff, and other groups to make sure the process
is seen as open, inclusive, and worthwhile, thereby setting the stage for
a commitment to the planning process
• Identify needed resources
2.2.4 Linking Assessment and Planning
The importance of linking assessment and planning has become increasingly apparent in recent
years. Professional and regional accrediting association criteria place a growing emphasis on an
integrated approach to assessment and planning. The Malcolm Baldrige framework for
organizational excellence and the Excellence in Higher Education
Self Assessment model – which adapts the framework to the specific needs of higher education –
also underscore the importance of strategic planning as one of seven critical components of
organizational effectiveness. PHE provides a means to address key planning and change
management issues with the kind of holistic approach that fits with these new models and helps
foster a culture of continuous assessment and renewal throughout the institution.
1. Contact
2. Awareness of Change
3. Understanding the Change
4. Positive Perception
5. Implementation of the Change
6. Adoption
7. Institutionalization of the Change
8. Internalization

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Practical field guide can serve the needs of a full spectrum of readers—from the experienced
higher education planner to the newcomer who is just learning about the discipline. By carefully
completing all the exercises, answering all the questions, and employing the many checklists for
each phase of the planning process, a planning team is very likely to emerge with a final product
that will truly strengthen the organization. The national movement to improve education through
the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) presents a tremendous
opportunity for higher education to experience reduced remediation and increased degree
completion. In order for the CCSS to realize their promise, however, higher education must be a
full partner with the implementation. This document provides guidance for state higher
education leaders on one crucial aspect of implementation: the role that state systems of higher
education must play to build toward recognition of the Smarter Balanced Assessment as
evidence that students are ready for entry‐level, credit‐bearing courses and should be exempted
from remediation in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.1 Where broader issues of
CCSS implementation intersect with this primary focus, they are addressed. This document does
not provide guidance on other important aspects of higher education’s role in CCSS
implementation—most notably curriculum alignment and teacher preparation and professional
development—that do not directly press on recognition of the Smarter Balanced Assessment
System. Plans are underway to provide such guidance in the future.
The timeline for creating and implementing the Smarter Balanced Assessment System is
aggressive. The federal grant that funds the consortium’s work requires that the assessment
system be operational in a period of two years. To meet this timeline, the consortium creates a
detailed master work plan which features pilot testing in two previous years a large‐scale field
and the setting of performance standards in the years. State education agencies and school
districts are also moving quickly. Most states that have adopted the Common Core State
Standards have already begun revising curricula and offering professional development to
teachers; in some districts, conversion to use of CCSS already has occurred. Because of this
schedule, it is important for state systems to begin work now on educating higher education
faculty and administrators about CCSS and Smarter Balanced and their implications for higher
education. This document provides guidance to help state higher education leaders plan that
work. The title of this guide should not be construed to suggest that there is a singular,
consistent and linear path that higher education leaders can follow to help their states
successfully implement the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced
Assessment System. Because the structure, governance, and politics of higher education differ
considerably from state to state, the process required is expected to be variable and non‐linear.
Some steps may naturally precede others, but many others should occur concurrently. Many
“steps” are not actually steps at all but rather ongoing processes. Higher education leaders should
filter the suggestions in this document through their local knowledge about the processes, olicies,
and people that will factor into reaching the goal of providing students, parents, and Many steps
also must be taken by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to achieve this goal (e.g.
engaging higher education in the design of the assessments and setting of performance standards,
developing policies to guide higher education’s use of the assessment scores, ensuring
prospective students understand the importance of these new assessments, etc.).
The steps that higher education leaders must undertake can be organized into four categories:
 Organization
 Agenda‐setting and Planning
 Communications and Engagement

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 Implementation and Policy Change

2.3 Steps to Higher Education Implementation of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System
a) Integrate higher education into the state’s existing Common Core State Standards
Steering Committee
By now, most states have established some sort of team tasked with overseeing implementation
of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). That group may run out of a Council, the state
education agency (SEA) or some other entity. Representatives from higher education should be
part of that team to address the development and deployment of the Smarter Balanced
assessments as well as the array of other important issues such as teacher preparation and
professional development that require genuine collaboration. Higher education representatives on
the state’s Steering Committee should include the Smarter Balanced higher education lead, at
least one chief academic officer, a dean of arts & sciences and/or chairs in English and
Mathematics, a dean of a college of education, and a registrar.

b) Establish higher education Common Core State Standards workgroups with

geographical representation from two‐‐ and four‐‐year institutions.
Above and beyond the statewide steering committee, higher education will need its own
workgroups, which could be sub‐committee(s) of the statewide committee, to address issues and
responsibilities of particular concern to higher education. One approach is to establish two
groups:one with responsibility for issues particular to teacher preparation and professional
development and one that addresses curriculum alignment and integration of the Smarter
Balanced assessments into higher education’s college readiness requirements. If there are groups
already in place that care about these issues and could be put to this purpose, those groups may
be a good place to start.However, care should be taken to ensure broad participation from a
diverse array of constituents.The composition of the Curriculum and Assessment workgroup will
of course vary, but it should likely include:
 The Smarter Balanced state Higher Education Lead
 The Smarter Balanced state Lead and other SEA staff as needed
 Academic leaders such as chief academic officers and deans
 Leaders of key academic governance committees that oversee curriculum and placement
policy
 English and mathematics chairs and/or senior faculty as well as a faculty who teach
entry‐level courses in the sciences and social sciences
 Registrars, since these individuals typically are responsible for administering campus
placement policies
All public institutions or (in larger states) systems should be represented in some way.
Representatives of independent colleges and universities should also be included if they have an
interest in participating.

c) Identify or hire project management staff

Major change initiatives such as this one require the dedicated attention of one or more key staff.
If everyone working on the project is doing so as an add‐on to existing responsibilities, it will be
very difficult to sustain the necessary momentum. If possible, one or more individuals should be
identified who can do the work necessary to keep planning and implementation moving forward.

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 d) Document context and history
As a precursor to developing an implementation plan, someone with considerable experience in
the state should be tasked with outlining the history of any reform efforts that would bear on
CCSS implementation, including initiatives, attempts at vertical alignment of curricula, or
changes to placement standards and policies. This background document should describe the
outcomes of those initiatives, the key players in the state whose participation has been
instrumental, and the major lessons that were learned. It should also describe the broader context
in which state leaders will be attempting reform. What is the historical relationship between
two‐ and four‐year institutions? Are there individuals whose support is crucial to the success of
policy change efforts? Are there structures such as a non‐governmental group that can play a
facilitating role? Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, so this historical/context
analysis is an important early step, especially if there have been recent changes in leadership.
Often, there will be someone in the state who can serve as an unofficial historian and pull this
document together. A side benefit of tapping such an individual for an important early role is that
he or she may end up being an informal champion of CCSS and Smarter Balanced.

e) Establish higher education goals for CCSS implementation

As in any large initiative, goal‐setting is an important early step. In this case, the most important
questions may revolve around how the state can take advantage of the national move to common
standards and assessments to advance its own strategic priorities. Most notably, how can CCSS
help the state meet its existing goals with regard to degree completion, productivity and
economic competitiveness? What new opportunities do CCSS and Smarter Balanced present for
collaboration and improved learning?

f) Create a set of operating principles

Workgroups may find it helpful to establish a set of operating principles to guide their work both
with each other and with colleagues across the state. Examples of the types of principles that
groups might adopt are:
 Regular and open communication
 Clear, concise achievable milestones
 Open process for participation by all higher education sectors
 Full engagement of higher education faculty and administrators
 Representation from all regions within the state
 Involvement of representatives from underserved groups

 A student‐centered focus on the impact of policies and practices

 Consideration for the needs of teachers and schools

g) Construct the critical paths to reaching the state’s goals

A critical path analysis works backward from a given goal or end‐state, envisioning the critical
steps and milestones that must be achieved along the path to that goal, their timelines, and
dependencies. A critical path analysis can be conducted for each major goal related to CCSS
implementation. For example, to conduct a critical path analysis for the goal of adopting the
Smarter Balanced assessment as an indicator of college‐readiness, states should ask themselves
questions such as the following:

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Specifically, what needs to happen so that the grade assessment can be used to indicate
students are ready for entry‐level, credit‐bearing course work?

Does public higher education already have common placement standards? If so, what
process is needed to align those standards to the Common Core and Smarter Balanced? If
not, what process must be undertaken to broach this topic and move institutions toward
appreciating the benefits of setting common expectations?

Which entities have decision‐making authority over the use of Smarter Balanced as a
readiness assessment? Can decisions be made at a state or system level, or must each
institution act individually? Is legislative or regulatory action necessary?

What activities are needed to inform key decision‐makers about CCSS and Smarter
Balanced and build consensus around their use in higher education?

What types of policies might need to be created? For example, would higher education
want to set expectations for coursework and achievement in the senior year for those
students who are deemed college‐ready at the end of 11th grade?

Are there policies that need to change at the state and/or institutional levels in order to
recognize the assessment and share student data? If so, what is the process for making
necessary policy changes?

What kinds of interventions might higher education work on for students who aren’t
deemed college‐ready? How will collaboration take place in higher education?

What kind of research evidence is needed about the efficacy of current and proposed
policies?

Approximately how long will each of those steps take? Are there any important
deadlines?

Who should take ownership for each step?

Who are the key actors that need to be engaged?

What are the dependencies between and among the steps?
According to the Smarter Balanced master timeline, full‐scale implementation of the assessment
system should occur in a span of two years. Performance standards, including the college‐ready
standard for the summative assessment, should be set through a consultative process that
feature significant participation by higher education faculty. Ideally, higher education institutions
make the policy changes necessary to recognize candidates as college‐ready who take the
assessment in the spring of the year. The nature of those policy changes, and the process
necessary to enact them, will of course vary from state to state. A key feature of the
implementation plan must be an outline of the policy changes that are necessary, the key
individuals and groups that must be engaged, and identification of individuals who will take
responsibility for shepherding the necessary changes through to completion.It may not be
necessary to adhere strictly to any particular planning model, but creating a detailed written plan
with assignments and timelines will be essential.

h) Create a definition of college readiness

Another important step for many states will be coming up with an operational definition of
college readiness that extends beyond English and mathematics and the performance standards
for the Smarter Balanced assessment. This conversation should encompass higher education
stakeholders. Agreeing upon a definition can help states focus their resources on areas that they
have deemed most crucial to student success.

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 i) Draft a master plan
Once a state has established goals and operating principles, identified critical paths, set a
definition of readiness, and developed a communication plan as described below they should put
all of this information into a master planning document that all actors can reference and use to
monitor their own progress and the progress of the entire initiative. Of course, state plans will
take many different forms, but all states should have a plan that has all or most all of the
elements identified in this document.

j) Create core messages

Drawing on Smarter Balanced communications materials, about the Common Core
State Standards and the state’s policy goals, what are the core messages that need to be
communicated to leaders, faculty, and staff? If possible, every communication should in some
way bolster those core messages. If CCSS and Smarter Balanced are presented as means to help
reach existing goals, rather than as yet another new reform initiative, they are likely to be better
received by faculty and administrators. Higher education leaders must have compelling answers
to the questions “Why are we doing this?” and “How does this benefit us?”

k) Establish a communications plan

Organized, targeted, and sequential communication is essential to foster understanding and
support for the CCSS and Smarter Balanced. A communications plan that identifies target
audiences, plans the roll‐out of key information and messages to those audiences, and structures
appropriate communications venues and formats will help ensure success. Common Core and
Smarter Balanced are both huge initiatives that represent tremendous change for education in the
United States. Different audiences will need different levels of detail about various aspects of
these initiatives. For example, many faculties will want to read and review how they have been
received by their peers around the country. Campus presidents and provosts will want to
understand how these initiatives can improve the success of their institutions and what major
policy changes will be required. If there is a higher education committee in the state legislature
that is distinct from the committee on education, it may know very little about the CCSS and
Smarter Balanced Assessments and thus require its own communication channel. Virtually all
audiences will need to establish some familiarity and comfort with the Common Core State
Standards before they will be ready to digest information about the Smarter Balanced assessment
system and become supporters for its full implementation.

l) Identify and bring on board key influencers

Many times, reform initiatives rise or fall based on the support (or resistance) of a few key
individuals who wield substantial formal or informal power. These individuals may be influential
legislators, senior faculty, or even journalists or business leaders. Identify those key individuals
early, reach out to them about CCSS and Smarter Balanced, solicit their feedback and advice,
and help them understand how these initiatives can advance their priorities. Many times, these
individuals will become important champions. At the very least, the “I was never consulted” trap
will be avoided.

m) Consider Statewide or Regional Convening to Share Information and Build Support

In addition to reading about the standards and assessments, faculty and administrators will want
to discuss these new initiatives face‐to‐face. A statewide meeting or series of regional

14
convenings can be a great way to share information and build support. Smarter Balanced is
happy to assist by suggesting possible speakers, sharing resource materials, etc. The timing of
such events is important. They should occur early enough that key constituents feel included in
decision‐making.

n) Get the State Engaged in Smarter Balanced

Another important way to build support for CCSS and Smarter Balanced is to foster engagement
in the Assessment consortium through participation on work groups or advisory committees and
review of key documents. The more familiarity key faculty and other decision‐makers have with
the CCSS and Smarter Balanced, the more comfortable they are likely to become with the notion
of a common standard for college readiness.

o) Implement the plan, monitor progress and hold individuals accountable

A primary factor in the success of any change initiative is the day‐to‐day work of implementing
the plan, monitoring progress, and holding people accountable for following through on
commitments. No amount of planning or communication can compensate for this type of
attention and commitment.

p) Make course corrections as necessary

All plans of this nature are living documents. As circumstances change, it will be necessary to
revisit the plan and make adjustments. This should be anticipated, and the Curriculum and
Assessment Workgroup should convene regularly to monitor progress on the plan and make
changes as circumstances warrant.

q) Evaluate and revise

A lot will be learned in the first few years of implementation as students around the country take
the new assessments and enter higher education. Inevitably, states will want to make changes or
enhancements. Smarter Balanced will establish an active national research agenda, but states and
institutions will want to do their own studies. How well are high school interventions for
off‐track students working? What adjustments should be made to placement policies or first‐year
curricula? Should the program of developmental instruction be adjusted? States will want
answers to these and other questions. The infrastructure created to shepherd the implementation
of CCSS can help plan these studies and recommend policy and programmatic changes based on
the results.

2.4 Current issues in higher education

i. Research deficiency
Every substantial contribution to the development of the human race can be attached to
research of one form or another. The importance placed on research in Africa is minimal in
comparison to the developed countries. An aspect that is rather interesting and absurd is the
assertion by researchers that all research proposals by graduate students and faculty are
required to be approved by the office of the President. It can only be said that this is a relic
of the colonial and subsequent authoritarian regimes. A significant number of the few
research projects that are completed suffer the unfortunate fate of sliding into oblivion. He
notes that factors such as the poor dissemination of research findings due to the general
absence of research journals in Kenya and Africa as a whole is a major hindrance. This

15
coupled with the overall consideration of the publication of academic books and journals as
money losing ventures as well as the fact that promotions are based on cronyism rather than
meritocracy and participation to research also contribute to the low prominence of research.

This analysis would perhaps be insufficient without the excavation of its roots. While it may
appear an over trodden path and perhaps even a heightened attempt at playing the underdog who
wittingly seeks sympathy and retribution this is not the case, rather it is an attempt at linking
prejudices, policy choices and results in a bid to understand the evolution of all these factors.
Prior to independence, “the syllabi is heavily dependent on imported texts and expatriate staff.
Research is mostly seen as a useful adjunct to teaching rather than being instrumental to the
productions of relevant knowledge and technology.The importance of research in the field of
higher education cannot be overemphasised. The lack of visibility of many of Kenyan
researchers is evidence of the insufficient structural and financial support mechanisms in
existence. Research is a pre-condition for social relevance and academic quality. A national
policy that promotes and finances research and postgraduate studies does exist, however there
exists limited utilisation of research results for national development.

ii. Centralised System of Governance

The importance of sound and egalitarian structures that allow for the interaction of ideas
and people to facilitate the process of arriving at decisions that are owned and supported by
the stakeholders cannot be overstated. Analysis of the situation in Kenya elaborates on the
centralised system of governance in public universities where power is concentrated in the hands
of the Vice-Chancellors. This is a situation that overwhelmingly plagues public universities,
where the need to be in control and ensure allegiance to one’s regime in many cases supersedes
academic and research undertakings. The appointment of the highest ranking administrative
officers (Vice-Chancellors) and Principals (of constituent colleges of these universities) by the
Presidency outlines a scenario of external imposition.
Fossilizing this sad state of affairs is the fact that most members of the university council
(the most powerful organ in the university) are presidential appointees yet one of its critical
functions is policy formulation which is a strategic element in any higher education
institution .This aspect is discussed in a study conducted on three public universities: UoN,
Egerton and Kenyatta Universities. The Association of African Universities (AAU) supported
study reveals that, the decentralisation of leadership accountability to faculty and associated
departments or units has proved to be the greatest management challenge to campus
administration in our time the fact that there is politicization of university management and
functions as characterized by the overpowering presence of the Presidency in critical
appointments.

iii. Deterioration of Education Standards

Quality in the universities and the aspect of funding is a multi-faceted matter that touches
on all the issues discussed above as well many others such as: the availability of sufficient
infrastructure vis-à-vis the student population, ratio of teachers to students, availability of
facilitating technology and a myriad of others. In 1970, through an Act of Parliament the
University of Nairobi (UoN) became the first public university. The increased demand for
higher education has led to the creation of an additional six (6) public universities to date.
Initially higher education in Kenya was free and as stated earlier there was an urgent need to

16
produce highly trained manpower to replace the departing colonial administrators.
However, recipients who benefited from this policy initiative were required to work in the
public sector for three (3) years .
As the numbers of those seeking higher education expanded it became impossible for the
Government to extend grants and scholarships to students and so in 1974 the University
Students Loans Scheme (USLS) was introduced. Administered by the Ministry of Education,
beneficiaries received loans which covered both tuition and living expenses. These loans
were payable upon completion of one’s studies. Sadly, graduates defaulted due to the
misconception that these were grants, the scheme therefore collapsed. In 1995, in view of
the limitations of the USLS the Government set up the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)
which was legally empowered to recover past loans as well as administer the new revolving
scheme (Nyaigotti-Chacha, 2004).

These developments were not taking place in isolation. In the 1980’s the Bretton Woods
Institutions and particularly the World Bank required the country to implement Structural
Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) which resulted in the withdrawal of financial support by the
Government to public universities. This aspect is examined further in the section on the
analysis of policies; suffice it to say that this action had drastic implications.The universities
were forced to search for and/or initiate alternative mechanisms of ensuring financial survival.
Prof. Nyaigotti-Chacha (2004) states that they had to come up with income generating activities,
some like UoN came up with limited companies while others like Moi University developed
various income generating units such as business units, service units as well as consultancy and
research services. What was common in all of them however, was the initiation of Parallel
Degree Programmes (PDP) also referred to as Privately Sponsored Student Programmes (PSSP).
These programmes opened invaluable opportunities to those who attained the minimum
university admission requirements but had no possibility of securing an admission because of the
limited opportunities available in the Government funded /regular programmes (CHE Workshop
Proceedings, 2008).
However, the parallel programmes have resulted in a number of challenges. The same report
states that the limited permanent academic staff are forced to shuttle from one university to
another offering their services to both regular and parallel programmes. Students enrolled in
parallel programmes pay high fees almost commensurate to fees paid in private universities. This
has led to a commercialization of education that compromises on quality. Add to this, the
insufficient infrastructure and sometimes haphazard establishment of university campuses and
one can already visualise a brewing quagmire. Perhaps saddening is the revelation that these
universities are designing irrelevant degrees in order to mint extra funds. As can be expected, the
bulk of these degree programmes are in the Arts arena since the initial investment is
comparatively lower than in science based programmes. This has created a surplus of graduates
in this area yet the country desperately requires strengthening in technical based programmes
(CHE Workshop Proceedings, 2008,). It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that this
surplus in graduates will result in a situation where many of them (if they are lucky) enter the job
market at significantly lower levels than they expected or remain jobless.

iv. Policies and their implications

Policies are not synonymous to decisions; they are more complicated in nature and binding.
They direct the actions that governments take, they have a certain deliberate quality, a

17
relative permanence and the possibility of doctrinal development. It can be said that policies are
a precursor to reforms. Unfortunately there is sometimes a negative correlation between the
formulation of policies and their implementation. A number of policies have been prominent in
shaping the higher education system in Kenya.

Actions that apply to all higher education institutions:

Immediate to short term actions
o Institutional strategies to be directed towards the highest quality research and teaching
and learning experience .
o Put in place a comprehensive anonymous student feedback system coupled with
structures to ensure prompt action taken in response to concerns .
o Develop and implement a comprehensive approach to Human Resources which
will support the achievement of the Higher Education Strategy's goal and the
specific recommendations of the strategy in relation to performance and talent
management, remuneration and career structures, contractual provisions and the
overall accountability framework.
o Develop and implement a comprehensive approach to Human Resources which will
support the achievement of the Higher Education Strategy’s goal and the specific
recommendations of the strategy in relation to performance and talent management,
remuneration and career structures, contractual provisions and the overall accountability
framework.
o Reflect parity of esteem to roles of research and teaching in resource allocation,
promotion criteria and performance metrics for staff and institution .
o Allocate resources equally to full and part time students/on/off campus students .
o Review accreditation for courses to include work or service learning .
o Engage with other institutions to ensure flexible routes into, within and across higher
education institutions .
st
o Expand provision of induction provision/preparation and supports for 1 year students .
o Develop options to reform of CAO entry system .
o Engage experts to develop subject guidelines framework .
o Engage with external examiner system and grading system .
o Ensure all academic staff including research‐active staff is engaged in undergraduate
teaching/laboratory supervision/tutorials .
o Engage with employers to facilitate mobility of staff both in and out of institutions to
other sectors .
o Engage with employers to facilitate mobility of students between HEIs, business, the
professions and wider community .
o Co‐operate fully with higher education authoriy in the implementation of fully
comparable database and timely provision of data deemed necessary to measure
performance .
o Co‐operate fully with higher education authorities in the strategic dialogue process .

Immediate to Medium Term

Review course design to include broad based and interdisciplinary opportunities for first
year students within the institution or in conjunction with other institutions .

18

Review undergraduate and postgraduate education to ensure range of generic skills
incorporated into programme design .

Ensure alignment and balance between learning outcomes, pedagogy and assessment .

Submit proposals for amalgamations and alliances where appropriate and Develop
national Protocol and appropriate structures .

Develop review mechanisms, performance metrics, and metrics to measure return on
investment etc. to ensure parity of esteem for differentiated research missions across
disciplines and across types of research and innovation activities, including knowledge
transfer and commercialization.

Engage in research prioritization exercise to establish priority areas of focus for Irish
public investment in research.

The overall delivery of the Strategy is predicated on the need to meet the increasing
demand for higher education which will result in a significant expansion of the system
over the coming twenty years. The overall resource implications are dealt with in the
strategy which addresses the need to widen the funding base and to explore resource
efficiencies as a necessary pre‐requisite to any increased exchequer investment. The
funding model used to distribute exchequer funding will also be aligned with the strategic
priorities outlined in the strategy report.

Review questions

i. Explain the concept of planning in higher education

ii. Establish the impact of three imperatives to planning in higher education
iii. State and explain steps to higher education implementation of the smarter
balanced assessments system

TOPIC THREE: ISSUES, POLICIES AND STRATEGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

3.0 Topic Objectives
By the end of this topic the learner should be able to;
i).Examine the strategies for improving higher education.
ii)Discuss ways of mobilizing required resources for higher education
iii) Examine the status of University education investment programme.

3.1 Technical, industrial, vocational and entrepreneurship Training investment

programme
Background

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The graduates from the primary level of education have averaged more than 600,000 every year
in recent times. Out of these only 55 percent or 350,000 primary school leavers proceed to
secondary schools,with the rest (about 300,000) either joining them youth polytechnics or the
informal sector, with the majority of the left without opportunities for further education. At the
end of the secondary education cycle, about 20,000 join universities while the rest,estimated at
200,000, are catered for by the middle level colleges many of which are poorly equipped. The
existing capacity and capability in middle level colleges (both private and public) and youth
polytechnics are inadequate to absorb the remaining KCPE and KCSE graduates. These are
target groups whose skills development will have to be enhanced through a well harmonised,
flexible and demand-driven TIVET system in order to ensure that they are enabled to contrib.
implementation of FPE has resulted in a larger number of KCPE graduates moving into the
TIVET system thus exerting great pressure on the existing facilities and structures. In spite of the
enormous gains made in the development of TIVET over the last 40 years, the growth of this
sub-sector has been rather haphazard and uncoordinated due to lack of a unified policy and legal
weaknesses. These have resulted in ineffective co-ordination of training policies, disparities in
training standards, and the disproportionate production of personnel without relevant and
adequate skills. The situation has also been aggravated by inadequate funding of the sub sector.
3.1.1 Issues and constraints
Currently, this subsector is faced by many challenges that need to be addressed.
These include:
• Inflexible and outdated TIVET curriculum;
• Mismatch between the skills learned and the skills demanded by industries;
• Inadequate mechanism for quality assurance;
• Inadequate physical facilities for training, coupled with lack of sufficient
modern equipment;
• Expensive training materials and textbooks;
• Low participation of private sector in curriculum design and development.

3.1.2 On-going programmes/initiatives

To address the above problems, the Government has initiated TIVET reforms. The reforms
started with a rapid appraisal of the national TIVET system, which was followed by a validation
workshop of key stakeholders who adopted the findings and recommendations of the rapid
appraisal team. A national symposium was held in November 2003 involving all stakeholders,
with the objective to review TIVET status in Kenya and builds a consensus amongst stakeholders
on the strategies for the reform process. The symposium came up with the following
recommendations;
 Establishment of a National Training Authority to oversee the development and co-
ordination of TIVET;
 Development of national skills training strategy;
 Establishment of a programme to enhance access and equity for people with special
needs at all levels of TIVET;
 Provision of incentives to encourage industry’s participation in financing of skills
training;
 Identification and development of TIVET centres of excellence for nurturing creativity
and innovation.
 Harmonization of the schemes of service for all cadres of trainers in TIVET institutions;

20
  Establishment of a national technology diffusion and training fund to facilitate generation
and dissemination of appropriate technologies and skills.
Policy framework
The draft Sessional Paper No.1 of 2005 is to enhance skills development and critical stock of
our human resource. The aim of public investment in this sub-sector is therefore to enhance skills
development for increased productivity in order to stimulate economic growth and employment
creation.
Objectives of TIVET in Kenya
The objectives of our national TIVET system are to:
 Provide increased training opportunities for school leavers that will enable
them to be self-supporting;
 Develop practical skills and attitudes which will lead to income earning
activities in the urban and rural areas;
 Provide technical knowledge, vocational skills and attitudes necessary for
manpower development;
 Produce skilled Artisans, Craftsmen, Technicians and Technologies for both
formal and informal sectors.

3.1.3 Strategies to address key policy issues

In order to deliver the above objectives, the Government will:
(i) Involve relevant stakeholders in the development of a comprehensive national skills training
strategy;
(ii) Devise mechanisms and apply appropriate incentives to promote private sector investment in
the development of TIVET through research, training and joint projects;
(iii) Provide scholarships and other merit awards for staff and students in order to promote
excellence in creativity and innovation in the field of science and technology;
(iv) Provide loans and bursaries to enhance access to TIVET, taking special account of
marginalized groups, such as female and, physically handicapped students;
(v) In the long-term absorb into MOEST and rationalize youth polytechnics in order to make
them appropriately staffed and equipped to provide credible TIVET programmes;
(vi) Rehabilitate facilities in public TIVET institutions to ensure quality training;
(vii) Provide an alternative path for accessing higher education and training upto degree level;
(viii) Create opportunities for national polytechnics to offer degree level qualifications while
retaining their present mandates;
(ix) Establish a national TIVET authority to oversee the national skills training system;
(x) Collaborate with stakeholders to create necessary linkages and credit transfers between
tertiary institutions and with universities;
(xi) Review the current training delivery mechanisms to include mandatory onjob training to
enhance quality and relevance of training as part of the academic programme;
(xii) Continuously take stock of the existing and anticipated demands for skilled labour in the
short term and long term so as to ensure the provision relevant training;
(xiii) Utilize secondary schools with facilities for industrial arts to offer secondary technical
education curriculum in order to prepare the form four graduates for careers in TIVET;
(xiv) Provide mechanisms for linkages and credit transfers to facilitate horizontal and vertical
mobility and;

21
(xv) Undertake regular labour market skills survey and training needs assessment in
collaboration with the industry in order to develop manpower development plans and provide
appropriate feedback into curricula design and development.
Programme summary
 The overall goal of TIVET programmes is to improve access, quality and
 relevance of skills development. To achieve this goal, the following components
 have been proposed for the TIVET investment programme.
 Development of the National Skills Training Strategy.
 Enhancing transition from primary to TIVET.
 Establishment of TIVET centres of excellence.
 Skills enhancement for automation and computer integration in industry.
 Development of a bursary awards programme.
 Creation of industrial incubators.
 Purchase of equipment for Mombasa and Kenya Polytechnic to enable them
 Offer degree level courses.
 Rehabilitate TIVET training facilities.

3.1.4 Management of TIVET investment programmes

Investment programme 1 – Development of a national training strategy and
putting in place the necessary institutaional framework.
 The development of national skills training strategy through the
 participation of all stakeholders in education and training.
 The composition of the steering committee to oversee the development of
 national skills training strategy composed of people from public and private
 sector at the policy making level.
 Establishment of a steering committee to manage the reform process.

3.1.4.1Performance indicators Means of verification Critical assumptions

Goal: Improve access, quality and relevance of TIVET.
 Improved student learning achievement
 Improved labour market performance of graduates
 Labour market data
 Tracking survey
 Legal framework governing TIVET put in place
 Education Act revised
 Availability of adequate funding by GOVERNMENT and development partners
Development objective:
 To develop a flexible and demand driven TIVET system that provides skill development
opportunities to KCPE/KCSE graduates.
 Employability and labour market performance of TIVET graduates improved
 Increased enrolment to 90,000
 Enrolment data from training institutions
 Labour market survey
 Industry and private sector participation Outputs
Harmonized and enhanced TIVET SYSTEM
 Legal framework developed

22
  TIVET authority established
 Qualification framework and credit transfer system established
 TIVET Act
 National training strategies documented
 Timely cabinet approval and parliamentary enactment

Transition from primary to TIVET enhanced.

 Training opportunities for KCPE graduates increased by 20% per year
 Enrolment data
 Survey reports
 Harmonized coordination of youth polytechnic programmes

3.1.4.2 Access to relevant and quality TIVET enhanced.

• Enrolment increased in NPs, TTIs and ITS to over 60,000 students
• 50 programmes revised/ modularized
• 10 Degree programmes established in National Polytechnics
• Evaluation reports
• Staff returns
• Progress reports
• Syllabi documents
• Accreditation documents for degree
• Acceptance by BOG
• Enabling environment created
• Output 4: Skills for computer automation and interaction enhanced.
• Ratio of 15 students per computer attained in TIVET institution
• Distance learning programmes established
• Management information system established in TIVET institution covered
• 200 trainers trained in automation technologies
• Survey reports
• Progress reports
• Contract documents
• Utility bills
• Availability of power and telephone services in TIVET institutions

3.1.4.3 Bursary awards programme started.

• 1000 students receiving bursaries per year
• List of recipients
• Survey reports
• Progress reports
• Positive response by targeted communities
• Availability of favourable environment for learners with special needs.
• Industrial incubators created. industrial incubators established and equipped
• 30 youth benefiting from loan programme in the first year
• 6 technology managers trained in the first year

23
 • At least one technology congress held every year
• 100 merit awards and scholarships allocated to top students in the five years.
• Evaluation reports
• Trade licenses
• Awards and prizes
• Loan records
• Merit list
• Support from private sector
• Support of BOG

3.1.5 Activities:
3.1.5.1 Development of National Training Strategy.
 Legal framework developed
 TIVET Authority established.
 Qualification framework and credit transfer system established.
 TIVET Act-study on youth polytechnic.
 A baseline report The Baseline report.
 Timely release of GOVERNMENT and donor support.
 Infrastructure improvement for youth polytechnics.
 Infrastructure developed in institutions
 Survey Reports Funds will be available
 Upgrading of equipment in the TIVET institutions.
 Progress report Funds available
 Development of teaching and learning resources.
 Youth learning and teaching resources developed.
 Enrolment data Funds will be available
 In-servicing of youth polytechnic staff-250 staff trained each year in the five years.
 Evaluation reports Funds will be available

3.1.5.2 Curriculum development for craft level programmes.

 Existing syllabi updated
 New syllabi developed
 Curriculum documents
 Inspection reports
 Funds will be available.
 Personnel for inspection will be adequate.

3.1.5.3 Upgrading equipment for centers of excellence

Equipment upgraded and Inspection reports

24

Funds made available

Skilled personnel to perform the tasks.

Staff in-service training and skills upgrading.

Interest in the updated training programmes.

Carry out study to establish the status of training in automation and computer integration
in TIVET.

Purchase training equipment for Centres of excellence provided with equipment every
year.

Inspection Reports

Procurement reports

Staff in-service training and skills upgrading.

Staff trained/inserviced for every centre established.

Funds are made available

Support youths from poor households-1000 needy students receive bursary per year.

Expenditure returns

Disbursement list

Bursary to achieve the MDG on gender parity-250 female students receive bursary per
year.

Bursary for youth with special needs. 200 youth with special needs receive bursary per
year.

Enrolment data on special Youth institutions.

Availability of favorable environment for learners with special needs

Resources made be availed from Treasury

3.1.5.4 Purchase of pool equipment for incubation.

 Equipment purchased for one incubator per year.
 Equipment in institutions
 Invoices and delivery documents for equipment.
 Equipment purchased for one incubator per year.
 Invoices and delivery documents for equipment.
 Skills upgrading for business creation and technology management 30 trainers trained
every year for skills upgrading.
 Study leave
 Enrolment documents
 Technology innovation research fund. At least 35 research projects undertaken in the five
years.
 Research proposals and reports
 Loan disbursement and repayment records
 Tool kit loan fund. At least 100 tool kit loans disbursed in five years Loan disbursement
and repayment records
 Technology congress and Awards At least one congress held every year. Congress
reports

3.2 University education investment programme

3.2.1 Background

25
 University education comprises of all that education and training offered in the highest
institutions of learning leading to the award of degrees and post graduate qualifications. The
university sub-sector has witnessed tremendous growth in the last 5 years from 112,229 (68,345
male and 43,884 female) in 2006 to 180,978 (111,050 male and 69,928 female) in 2010. In 2012,
there were a total of 33 universities (7 public and 26 private) and 24 university constituent
colleges. The establishment of new university colleges and campuses has contributed to this
growth and made university education more accessible. In addition, the different pathways
adopted to create opportunities to access higher education have also contributed to this growth.
University education plays a crucial role in national development. However,despite the rapid
expansion of higher education over the past decade, challenges to access and equity remain.
These include: inadequate capacity to cater for the growing demand for more places; mismatch
between skills acquired by university graduates and the demands from the industry; an imbalance
between the number of students studying science and art-based courses; rigid admission criteria
that exclude the possibilities for credit transfers amongst universities as well as for graduates
from other post-secondary institutions; and gender and regional disparities.

The rapid expansion of access to university education has strained the existing facilities and
adversely affected the teaching and learning, the morale of staff,research productivity and the
intellectual climate of public universities as a whole.University education recorded phenomenal
achievement over the last two decades. The number of public universities increased from one at
independence to six and one college in 2003. The country has also experienced the growth of
private universities due to the increasing demand for university education. The demand for
module II university programmes has also substantially increased enrolment. Other reforms
include competitive recruitment of senior staff, appointment of a Board of Inspection for public
universities to recommend reforms and the introduction of performance contracts.

Vision, Mission, Principles and Objectives of University Education Vision

The vision for the University sub-sector is to provide globally competitive quality education,
training, and research for sustainable development.
Mission
The mission of university education is to produce graduates who respond to the needs of the
society, upgrading the skills of the existing workforce, developing the community and business
leaders of tomorrow, as well as the ability to start new businesses to employ Kenyans and
contribute to the Country‟s economic well-being, are central to the mission of the university
education system.

Objectives
To realize the stated vision and mission, the objectives of university education are to:
(i) Promote socio-economic development in line with the country’s development agenda;
(ii) Achieve manpower development and skills acquisition;
(iii) Promote the discovery, storage and dissemination of knowledge;
(iv) Encourage research, innovation and application of innovation to development and;
(v) Contribute to community service.

The sector will be guided by the following principles and values:

(i) Promotion of quality and relevance;

26
(ii) Promotion of rights, culture, ethical behaviour, national values and national interests;
(iii) Enhancement of equity and access;
(iv) Promotion of inclusive, efficient, effective and transparent governance systems and practices
and maintenance of public trust;
(v) Ensuring university sustainability and adoption of best practices in university management
and institutionalization of systems of checks and balances;
(vi) Promotion of private-public partnerships in university education and development and;
(vii) Institutionalization of non-discriminatory practices.

The Government's goal is to have sustainable quality university education through the
attainment of the following specific performance targets:
(i) Increase Gross Enrolment Rates (GER) from 3% to 10% (190,000 to 600,000 students) by
2022;
(ii) Attain equity in university education enrolment that reflects national diversity;
(iii) Enhance student completion rates;
(iv) Improve quality and relevance of learning and research for national development and ;
(v) Attract and retain high calibre human resource.

3.2.2 Policy framework

In order to address the above issues, the Government’s long-term policy is to provide a
framework for sustainable, competitive and autonomous national university system. Such a
policy objective will take into account the comparative strengths of public and private
institutions, and thus reduce wastage. It will also seek to lead to the development of a diversified
financial base and provide for operational independence while at the same time paying attention
to issues of relevance, and responsiveness to the market and to national priorities. University
education and training will, therefore, need to be demand-driven, of high quality, gender
sensitive, technologically informed, research supported,democratically managed and globally
marketable.
In order to address the challenges that constrain access, equity, quality and relevance in
university education, the Government will, through the respective university councils and CHE:
(i) Promote the expansion of university education and training in tandem with population growth
and the demand for university places and research;
(ii) Promote private sector investment in development of university and training;
(iii) Enhance quality assurance mechanisms in university education;
(iv) Provide scholarships based on the needs of the economy; targeted bursaries and loans to the
needy taking into account gender parity;
(v) Ensure relevant training in all professional courses to remove existing skills mismatch;
(vi) Work with partner institutions to rationalize academic programmes among universities with
a view to creating centres of excellence, where each university has comparative advantage;
(vii) Develop a mechanism for universities to undergo regular peer reviews and evaluation of
their programmes;
(viii) Work with public universities to develop a performance based system of appointments and
promotions; and
(ix) Review all professional programmes to ensure incorporation of internships
into the academic programmes.

27
3.2.3 Strategies to address key policy issues
To implement the above policies, the Government, through respective councils and CHE, will
employ the following strategies:
(i) Create incentives for increased investments in university education,training and research;
(ii) Increase Government contribution and improve the existing university loans system to ensure
availability of financial support to poor students;
(iii) Promote open universities, and distance education to increase learning opportunities;
(iv) Provide adequate support for scholarships and research at university level;
(v) Ensure integration of attachment internship into the training system to enhance relevance and
productivity;
(vi) Support affirmative action to ensure equitable access to university education;
(vii) Work with universities to develop and implement capacity building programmes for
academics and university managers;
(viii) Coordinate, through CHE, a national accreditation system for all tertiary institutions and
universities as a means of guaranteeing quality education and training;
(ix) Require each university to maintain a record of academic productivity including
publications, awards, funds from third parties, and patents and royalties. Each university should
work out a mechanism for this purpose and maintain an inventory of short- and medium-term
national skills needed;
(x) Collaborate with partner institutions to establish internal evaluation mechanisms for
academic programmes and management and ensure publication of the results; and
(xi) Empower HELB to mobilise resources from the private sector to enable it give loans to all
categories of students.

3.2.4 Expanding Access and Equity

During the past decade university enrolment has seen a rapid expansion in both public and
private universities. Patterns of access to both public and private universities tend to reflect
increasing regional, gender and socio-economic differentiation in the Country. The existing
inequalities in access to education at lower levels need critical attention as they tend to be
reproduced or exacerbated as one goes up the education ladder. Owing to the challenges
experienced by the poor, the marginalized, and the disadvantaged, the current environment
makes it difficult for such students to participate in university education.
Admissions for self-sponsored undergraduate, as well as all post-graduate students at both
public and private universities are currently handled directly and solely by the individual
institutions. For undergraduates who receive Government scholarships, however, the admission
process is currently coordinated through the Joint Admission Board (JAB), collaboration
between public universities and university colleges. As a result, Government Scholarships are
restricted to public institutions only and are based primarily on performance, with no cognizance
of financial need. Affirmative action measures are however enforced to ensure increased
participation by women and students from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL). Most secondary
school students receive limited and uncoordinated career guidance in their schools. There is also
inadequate information available to the students and at the schools on the degree programme and
career choices. This has resulted in poor university programme choice and or a mismatch
between choice and talents.
However, challenges to access and equity remain. These include: inadequate capacity to cater
for the growing demand for more places in the universities; mismatch between skills acquired by

28
university graduates and the demands of the industry; an imbalance between the number of
students studying science and arts based courses; lack of policies on credit transfers among
universities; gender and regional disparities in terms of admissions and in subjects and courses
undertaken; lack of adequate household income as a barrier to students who have qualified and
admitted to university and restriction of Government sponsorship to public universities only.
To address these challenges the Government will implement the following policies:
(i) Promote expansion to satisfy the demand for university places of the growing population.
(ii) Provide incentives and create an enabling environment for an increase in the number of
private universities;
(iii) Expand Government student sponsorship to private universities and; Ensure that universities
enroll and graduate sufficient PhDs.
To implement these policies the Government will adopt the following strategies:
(i) Full utilization of space in existing universities and university colleges;
(ii) Expand open and distance education (ODL) in existing universities by leveraging on ICT to
take advantage of ICT infrastructure within the Country;
(iii) Establish the Open University of Kenya by 2014.
(iv) Expand facilities in newly created university colleges.
(v) Embark on planned development of additional public universities.
(vi) Ensure that universities graduate an average of 2,400 PhDs to meet the targeted increase of
10% GER, based on the current3, 000 total faculty members in Country by 2022. This will be
enhanced by establishment of research universities that offer only post-graduate degrees.
(vii) Adhere to the National Qualifications Framework by institutionalizing and harmonizing
pathways into university education for non-direct secondary school leavers, students with
workplace and experiential learning skills and mature entry needs.
(viii) Establish specialized universities to train undergraduate students only and accelerate
enrolment;
(ix) Ensure at least 40 per cent enrolmentof female students into science-based university
academic programmes;
(x) Enable institutions to increase enrolmentof students with special needs through affirmative
action, appropriate out-reach programmes targeting them and through pre-entry programmes;
(xi) Continue to support the marginalized and the poor to ensure broader participation in priority
programmes;
(xii) Ensure that students who have received university admission are able to receive tuition and
fees in the form of loans and/or bursaries within 10 years (or by 2022);
(xiii) Formalize and restructure the Joint Admissions Board to University Joint Admission Board
to include private universities and handle the expanded mandate;
(xiv) Government scholarships to be awarded based on a combination of national priority areas,
student performance, student choice of programme and university, and available slots in each
programme at both public and private universities.
(xv) Avail to students and parents information on programme costs, values of scholarships as
well as bursaries to allow them make informed decisions on programme choice.
(xvi) Provide information to students and sponsors selecting university programmes on the top
up required above the face value of the scholarships;
(xvii) Progressively reduce Government scholarships in the next 10 years (2022) to only
Government loans and bursaries;

29
(xviii) Continue to pay into a revolving fund based on levels of capitation that were earmarked
for scholarships;
(xix) Require students whose tuition and fees exceed the scholarship value of their preferred
programme to top-up the difference;
(xx) Disseminate information on career guidance to students and schools, to promote informed
programme and career choice, especially as relates to employability, job-creation, and student
ability.

3.2.5 Improving Quality and Relevance

The delivery of this policy objective will involve the appreciation that the focus of quality in
education must of necessity be found in the students admitted, the learning environment created,
the curriculum or programmes adopted and the academic staff in the institution, among other key
ingredients.
Within this renewed focus, and as universities decide the right balance of courses to offer, there
should be an overarching concern to promote the life chances and employability of graduates as
well as incorporate the needs of industry and national development priorities especially in the
context of the goals delineated in Vision 2030, as part of the curriculum development and review
process. The strong orientation on economic impact, however, does not come at the expense of
social inclusion and equality of opportunity but through an integrated approach. Universities play
a critical role in promoting national cohesion and integration, providing settings where young
people and adults from different racial, ethnic, religious and social groups can come together.
Research is a core activity of universities. Research output forms the foundation of attaining the
national development goals. Universities will be encouraged to increase their research grant
portfolios by attracting increased funding from Government, the private sector, development
partners and international organizations. Research grants will serve as an avenue to not only
meet a part of recurrent expenditure, but will also support facilities development, equipment
purchase, staff development and of course pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
Challenges of quality and relevance include: inadequate facilities and appropriate teaching and
learning environment; inadequate staff; weak collaboration with professional accreditation
bodies; lack of external quality assurance in public universities; large class sizes; weak linkage
between the competences acquired in some programmes and the demands of the market;
inadequate research funding.

To address these challenges the Government will implement the following policies:
(i) Restructure and expand the mandate of the Commission for Higher Education to include both
public and private universities.
(ii) Increase capital support to the universities to enhance institutionalization of excellence.
(iii) Improve collaboration between industry, professional bodies and universities in determining
competences of the graduates.
(iv) Provide incentives to the private sector to invest in university education.
(v) Increase the number of graduate researchers capable of fulfilling industrial, commercial,
national needs and increase the opportunities for businesses to expand on their capability for high
technology innovation and growth.
(vi) Institute mechanisms to enhance implementation of national values, cohesion and
integration.
(vii) Increase the level of research funding available to universities.

30
 To implement these policies the Government will implement the following strategies:
(i) Restructure the Commission for Higher Education to be the Commission for University
Education responsible for accreditation, quality improvement and assurance in university
education.
(ii) Provide financial incentives to universities to strengthen and grow academic programmes that
are in line with national priority and strategic areas.
(iii) Provide incentives to encourage the growth of the university sector and make it easier for the
best providers of university education service to spread their influence across the system and the
agents of change.
(iv) Ensure that industry and professional bodies take an active strategic leadership role,
consistent with their leadership role in their respective industries in ensuring that their needs are
addressed in university curricula.
(v) Universities will not be allowed to mount or admit students to programmes that require
professional accreditation before obtaining the same.
(vi) Provide incentives to the private sector, including corporate and personal tax relief, waiver
on duty on donated equipment, waiver of stamp duty on donated land, among others,to
encourage investment in university education.
(vii) Encourage universities to establish vibrant alumni associations both as a key source of funds
and for advice and advocacy.
(viii) Establish specialized universities to promote and exploit innovative uses of technology.
(ix) Offer a core course that promotes national values, cohesion and integration

3.2.6 Financing of University Education

University education is expensive and requires huge investments by all partners. The average
spending per student at the university level was 31 times, 6 times, and twice as expensive in
relation to primary, secondary and TVET education, respectively. It indicates that university
education through public universities is particularly expensive to Government and is not
sustainable with current resources. Public universities will, therefore, have to reduce their
dependence on the Government by diversifying their sources of income as well as ensuring more
efficient and cost effective use of institutional resources. They will also be required to establish
comprehensive financial management systems that ensure efficiency in the application of
resources. The Government will also increase the incentives to encourage the growth of private
universities in the Country.
Both private and public universities derive the bulk of their funding from tuition and fees paid
by students directly, or paid on their behalf by Government or other sponsor. Primary sources of
tuition include scholarships, loans and bursaries from Government, as well as household income.
Public universities, as state-owned and funded corporations, have an obligation to the taxpayer to
provide quality and affordable university education. The tuition and fees for Kenya citizens at
public universities, therefore, will be expected to be lower than those of private universities.
Universities must participate more actively in consultancies, especially those from Government,
both as income generation activities, as well as for national development.
The current funding structure for government-sponsored students in public universities is not
based on the unit cost for undergraduate programmes but allocated uniformly per student
enrolled irrespective of the course a student is pursuing. Therefore, the cost per course does not

31
differentiate between expensive and inexpensive programmes. Furthermore, uniform funding per
student enrolled varies from university to university and this is also insensitive to different unit
costs of the courses offered by the various universities. As a result of applying this uniform unit
cost, public universities with relatively expensive programmes are under-funded as compared to
those with relatively less costly programmes.
There is need for public universities to adopt a Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC). This is defined
as the annual cost of providing a particular degree program per student, taking into account the
staff costs, facility costs and other institutional overhead costs. Each public university will set its
own DUC based on its own unique circumstances subject to a programme-based maximum
DUC. The maximum DUC will be determined by the Government in consultation with the public
universities. The introduction of DUC in public universities will eliminate the distinction
between the Government-sponsored and self-sponsored students in public universities. As a
result, public universities will need to develop appropriate staff compensation mechanisms and
encourage continued optimum use of university facilities through the provision of services to
students in the evenings and on weekends, with a view to increasing access. The challenges in
financing public universities include: inadequate budgetary support; inadequate funds for capital
development; lack of programme differentiated unit cost in provision of funds from Government;
inadequate internal income generation by the universities; and system inefficiencies. The
challenges in financing private universities include: lack of incentives from Government;
students enrolled in private universities do not benefit from Government sponsorship; and weak
financial base for upcoming institutions.

To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policies:
(i) Establish lean and efficient management systems and efficient utilization of resources
allocated to universities.
(ii) Provide budgetary support to public universities in direct proportion to the total number of
Full-Time Student Equivalent (FTSE) in each institution;
(iii) Determine the amount of budgetary support per programme based on the strategic
importance of the programme to national development goals and the programmes Differentiated
Unit Cost;
(iv) Extend Government sponsorship to students in private universities;
(v) Diversify sources of funding university education through participation of businesses,
industry and donations or endowments from individuals or philanthropic foundations;
(vi) Encourage higher education institutions to be more ‘entrepreneurial’ in providing their
services and seeking contracts for research and consultancy;
(vii) Encourage university faculty to incorporate students in consultancies, giving the students
exposure and experience that will prove invaluable after graduation and;
(viii) Seek consulting teams for major projects through competition amonguniversities and
government institutions as a first step, before considering other avenues of undertaking the same.

To implement these policies the Government will implement the following strategies:

32
(i) Provide public universities with budgetary support to meet part of their recurrent costs;
(ii) Make university education at public institutions more affordable to Kenyans by among others
through increased budgetary support to defray part of the student tuition and fees costs;
(iii) Provide low-cost loans to public institutions for capital development;
(iv) Provide conditional low-cost capital development loans to private institutions who agree to
abide by the accountability and equity mandates placed on public institutions;
(v) Encourage public-private-partnerships in funding university education including but not
limited to development of endowments for scholarships, development and shares, providing
naming rights to major sponsors of buildings and other facilities, grants for research and
development;
(vi) Encourage universities to engage in other Income Generating Activities (IGAs) to boost their
revenue base, so long as participation in those activities does not pull resources or detract the
universities from their core business.

3.2.7 Summary of proposed investment in university education

Under KESSP, it is proposed to invest resources in strategic areas of the university education
with the key objective being to expand access and equity, enhance quality and relevance, and
improve effectiveness and efficiency in the governance and management of university education.
The 5 – year investment in university education component will focus on the following major
areas:
-Development and implementation of a national strategy for the development of university
education.
-Improvement and expansion of programs in particular areas of high priority to address the issue
of quality, including;-
- Establishing ICT in all universities,
- Intensifying the re -development, monitoring and evaluation of curriculum,
- Enhancing training and capacity building for management,lecturers and students,
- Enhancing research development and utilization by establishing a fund for the same,
- Establishing centres of excellence in specialized programs through upgrading of equipment and
facilities,
- Completion of high priority infrastructured projects.
-Expansion of access, particularly for disadvantaged students, through:
- establishing a national open university/open learning and distance education centres,
- enhancing HELB to enable it give more bursaries and scholarships to qualified disadvantaged
students,
- enhancing HIV/AIDS, prevention of drug and substance abuse and community outreach
programs,
- Upgrading the Kenya and Mombasa Polytechnics to enable them offer two-year technical
degree courses.
Objectives and strategies
In order to address the challenges facing university education, the following objectives are
proposed:

1.Examination of access and equity in university education whose investment strategies

include the following:

33
 (i) Establishment of a national centre for OL&DE;
(ii) Intensifying affirmative action to address gender and regional disparities;
(iii) Encouraging private sector participation in the provision of university education;
(iv) Enhancing the capacity of HELB to give more bursaries/scholarships to qualified and
disadvantaged students;
(v) Upgrading the national polytechnics to offer degree programmes;
(vi) Completing high priority infrastructural projects.

2.Enhancment of quality and relevance of university education whose investment strategies

include the following:
(i) Establishing mechanisms for promoting the linkages between the universities, the private
sector and industries in order to enhance the quality and relevance of university education;
(ii) Upgrading the skills and capacities of faculty through training;
(iii) Re-evaluating continuously university curriculum to incorporate contemporary demands of
development;
(iv) Establishing centres of excellence in specialized programmes through upgrading of
equipment and facilities;
(v) Intensifying relevant research and development;
(vi) Reviewing the existing programmes with a view to addressing relevance and market
demands;
(vii) Mandating Commission for Higher Education (CHE) to be the national quality assurance
agency for tertiary and research institutions and universities;
(viii) Establishing a national accreditation system under CHE for all tertiary institutions and
universities as a means for guaranteed quality at these levels;
(x) Enhancing the function and profile of CHE in higher education
3.Improvement of governance and efficiency in the management of university Education
whose investment strategies include the following:
(i) Developing, establishing and implementing a national strategy for University education
development;
(ii) Rationalizing the current organizational structures of public universities to enhance
governance, efficiency and management;
(iii) Reviewing and harmonizing the legal framework and instruments that govern university
education;
(iv) Establishing targeted staff development programmes in administration of academic
programmes and general management;
(v) Developing and implementing a national strategy for the development of university
education.
4.Enhancement of the use of ICT in public universities whose investment strategies include
the following:
(i) Integrating ICT in all university programmes;
(ii) Enhancing the capacities of personnel and faculty in ICT;
(iii) Providing the requisite infrastructure for ICT.
(vi) Curriculum review and development.
(vii) Establishing ICT capacity.
(viii) Training for capacity building.
(ix) Establishing a national centre for OL&DE

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3.2.8 Performance indicators Means of verification Critical assumptions.
Goal: Providing an opportunity for appropriate university education for national development
-University education that produces graduates who are adaptable to challenges to national
development.
-Reports on employment of university graduates
-Reports on development initiatives generated by university graduates through research and other
means.
- Employers will continue to employ university graduates.
-University graduates will initiate research on new development ideas.
-University education is a continuing process (lifelong)
Development
Objective: Plan and establish university education reform to improve access, quality, relevance,
efficiency and governance.
-Increased access.
- Improved quality and relevance.
-Improved efficiency and governance.
- National strategic plan.
- Annual quality assurance reports on university education.
- Annual university reports.
- University strategic plans.
- Universities will see value in planning strategically according to their missions and vision
statements.
- Universities establish clear quality assurance mechanisms.
Output 1:
A national strategy for university education reform developed and established.
Activities
 Have a stakeholders sensentization workshop.
 Workshops of the working groups.
 Commission for Higher Education collates all the reports of the working groups and
prepares draft strategic plan.
 Commission for Higher Education circulates draft to stakeholders.. National workshop to
 National strategic plan document for university education reform .
 The working groups formed as a result of the workshop.
 Level of participation
 Team formed to collate reports.
 Level of feedback from stakeholders.
 Workshop held.
 Strategic plan produced
 Approved national strategic plan for university education reform.
 Reports of workshop.
 Reports of the various working groups
 A draft strategic plan in place.
 Inclusion of feedback into draft.
 Workshop report.
 Finalized and approved strategic plan.

35
  Adequate funding available.
 Stakeholders value a sensitization workshop.
 Adequate funding available.

Output 2:
Access and equity expanded over the plan period.

Proportion of qualifying students gaining admission to university education

Proportion of female students enrolled in university education

Proportion of female students enrolled in technical and applied science courses in
university education

Proportion of students from ASAL and other disadvantaged areas enrolled in university
education.

Proportion of students accessing loans from HELB

Number of stalled projects and new capital investment for learning completed

Proportion of students admitted in private universities

Proportion of students studying university education thro’ ODL

Number of programmes offered at the universities

Proportion of female students receiving bursaries and scholarships

Proportion of female students enrolled and graduating with technical and science based
degrees

Proportion of students with special education needs (e.g. disabilities admitted to and
graduating in university education

Admission reports

HELB loan disbursement reports

Completion certificates and reports

Admission reports

Strategic plans

HELB loan & scholarship disbursement report

Faculty reports

Admission reports

University education continues to be attractive to those who qualify

More female students desire to have university education

A greater proportion of female students enroll for technical and science Subjects

More students from those disadvantaged areas enroll in university education

Adequate funds available

Critical stalled projects selected for completion

Private providers of university education increase their investment

More students take advantage of open and distance learning

New rationalized programs attract greater proportion of students

More female students apply for bursaries and scholarships

More female students interested in technical and science subjects

More students with special education needs in education interested in formal,
professional courses at university level.

Activities:
 Develop policy on OL & DE in university education

36
 Establish infrastructure for
 All universities providing OL & DE in accordance with established policies and
guidelines
 Admission reports
 University annual
 All universities maximizing use of OL & DE programs
 All universities taking full advantage of OL & DE
 Develop policy on affirmative action in university education
 Develop framework and guidelines for enhanced private sector participation in the
provision of university education
 Review HELB mechanisms and criteria for assessing student loan needs
 Allocate additional capitation grants to HELB
 Develop mechanisms for the establishment of a viable revolving fund for HELB
 Develop accreditation for the national polytechnics
 Enhance the capacities for staff and facilities of national polytechnics to offer degree
programmes
 Allocate additional budgetary resources for the completion of stalled projects
 All universities effectively offering OL & DE
 Proportion of university students enrolled in OL & DE
 Proportion of students from disadvantaged areas, especially girls enrolled in university
education
 Proportion of female students enrolled in technical and science
 Proportion of needy, especially female students accessing HELB loans
 All private providers in university education offering services in accordance with
established policies and guidelines
 Private universities as a proportion of new universities HELB loans disbursed as per
established criteria and guidelines
 Volume of loans disbursed by HELB
 Increase in the number of students receiving HELB loans
 Expanded scope of HELB loaning activities to other levels of education
 A viable revolving fund established under HELB
 National polytechnics providing quality degrees in technical subjects
 Capacity of staff and facilities enhance to handle technical degrees in the national
polytechnics
 Learning environment significantly improved in the universities
 Proportion of students accessing essential services in the university
 Adequate infrastructural capacity available and in use reports
 Admission reports
 Faculty reports
 HELB loan disbursement reports
 Increase in private provision of university education
 Increased private provision of university education
 HELB loans disbursement reports
 HELB financial reports
 National polytechnic academic program reports
 Faculty staff academic reports/records

37
 Report of survey on new facilities
 Annual reports
 Survey on infrastructure
 Students take full advantage of OL & DE
 Greater number of students from disadvantaged areas qualifying to one university
 Greater number of female students interested in technical and science subjects
 More female students apply for loans.Private providers accept policy guidelines
 Private providers take full advantage of incentives
 Needy students apply for loans
 Needy students apply for loans
 Needy students apply for loans
 Students from other levels apply for HELB loans
 More students pay back loan
 Students attracted to enroll for technical degrees
 Staff take advantage of capacity building and training opportunities
 Adequate funding
 Students take full of available services

38
  Student and staff maximize use of infrastructure
Output 3:
Quality and relevance of education

Proportion of students qualifying Graduate records

Students willingness to complete the course in the stipulated course duration

Proportion of students qualifying with high grades

Proportion of students qualifying in professional courses

Proportion of students gainfully employed after graduating

Proportion of faculty with post graduate qualifications and training

Level of published research

Level of consultancy services rendered by faculty

Number of students on attachment in industry

Proportion of budget from non – traditional sources

Ratio of learning materials to students

Degree of improvement in the learning environment

Establishment of a functional national accreditation system

CHE empowered to ensure quality education standards in all universities

Graduation/merit lists

Graduate records

Reports of industries on employed graduates

Faculty academic records

Published research record

Reports on consultancy work

Industries employment records

Budgetary reports

Report on the survey on learning materials

Reports on the survey of learning environment

Report on accreditation systems

Report on the CHE status

Students work hard to qualify for high grades

More students qualify for professional courses

Opportunity for employment

Willingness for the faculty to study

Challenges in research field

Ability to handle consultancy

Willingness of Industries to absorb students for attachment

Non-traditional sources willingness to invest in the varsity

Use of learning materials maximized

Ability to vet the status the environmental

Co-operation of all universities

Co-operation of all university education boards.

Activities:

39

Review current university curricula, examinations, delivery approaches, quality assurance
mechanisms and processes and selection.

Develop a training plan for staff and faculty

Provide focused training for staff and faculty.

Proportion of university graduates gaining employment in industry

Quality of university degrees improved

Number of collaborative linkages between universities and industries

Staff training needs and institutions for training identified

Employment records from Industries

Graduation records

University records on collaboration with industries

Training programme

Vacancy available for placement in industry high

Students desire for quality degrees

A thorough Needs Assessment mounted

Courses are relevant to faculty for research

Undertake applied research

Integrate research into the regular university curricula activities as a core component of
teaching and

learning process

Provide adequate teaching and learning materials

Provide adequate faculty staff for improved learner to lecturer ratio

Upgrade equipment and facilities

Vest CHE with the mandate to be the national agency for quality assurance for tertiary
and research institutions and universities

Construct CHE headquarters

Resources for training properly programmed

Proportion of faculty trained

Skills of faculty and staff enhanced

Number of sectors of the economy benefiting directly from research

Number of collaborative linkages between universities and industries in research

Level of incubation activity in universities

Amount of funding for research by source

Quality level of research activities in the universities
 Amount of research informing university academic programmes
 Ratio of students to learning materials
 Number of publications available in the main and resource centres
 Ratio of faculty to students
 Obsolesce of equipment and facilities in universities
 Standardized accreditation of programmes in universities and institutions of higher
learning
 Improvement in the quality of university degrees
 University programmes centrally coordinated by CHE
 Reports on training
 Faculty academic reports, or CVs
 National development reports

40
  Reports on collaboration
 Incubation activities in the universities
 Financial records
 Research reports
 Programmes born out of research
 Library records
 Records or student faculty ratio
 Equipment faculties inventory
 Accreditation programme
 Accreditation standard in place
 Reorganised CHE
 Research affects economy
 Collaboration between universities and industry is beneficial
 Willing scholars to undertake research
 Research is developed
 Intensive collaboration within faculties and disciplines
 All publication are put on record
 There is established student faculty ratio
 Updated inventory
 Agreed criteria by all universities

Output 4:
Governance and efficiency in the management of universities enhanced over the plan
period.
• Improved communication between administration and students
• Increases student participation in decision making
• Improved and efficient resource application
• Reduced strife in the universities
• No. of participatory decision making for a
• Healthy communication is a tool for harmony
• Students participation in decision making will lead to efficiency and good governance
• Proper resource application leads to efficiency
• Reduced incidences of student unrest
• Improved time management
• Management of university finances streamlined and norms for allocating resources
established
• Growth rate in the student loan revolving fund
• Legal framework for university education harmonized
• Degree of collaboration among stakeholders in university education
• Resource application records
• Completion of programs in time
• Programs completed in stipulated time
• Financial records
• HELB financial lending records
• Harmonised legal framework

41
 • Reports on collaborative efforts
• Completion of programs in time is a measure of efficiency
• Programs completed in stipulated time is a measure efficiency and governance
• Transparency by all players
• Ability of loanees to repay
• Cooperation of all universities and stakeholders
• Collaboration of stakeholders
Activities:
• Rationalize the organizational structure against functions
• Rationalize the establishment
• Develop and implement a training plan for management staff
• Streamline management and procurement systems
• Effective time management of universities
• Improved university performance
• Improved delivery of programmes
• Efficiency in the utilization of university resources
• Reduced staff cost
• Improved staff work load ratio
• Improved university governance
• University calendars
• Performers reports
• Assessment reports on delivery of pogrammes
• Resource utilization records
• University expenditure records
• Records on teaching load
• Harmony among staff & students
• Calendars are adhered to
• Relevant programs
• Delivery modes affect efficiency
• Maximised utilization of resources
• Collaboration among the faculty
• Teaching load affect efficiency

Output 5:
• Use of ICT in university education enhanced over the plan period.
• ICT policy developed
• Degree of use of ICT in teaching and learning processes
• Functional ICT infrastructure established
• ICT implementation plan developed and implemented
• ICT skills of staff and faculty
• Policy document on ICT
• Presence in learning and teaching
• ICT infrastructure
• ICT implementation

42
 • Relevance of policy
• ICT will enhance learning and teaching
• ICT infrastructure will enhance the ICT learning and teaching process
• Plan will be implemented
• ICT trained faculty will be more efficient enhanced plan
• Faculty performance in ICT
Activities:
 Develop an ICT policy for university education
 Restructure programmes to integrate ICT
 Provide the infrastructure for ICT
 Develop and implement a training plan for faculty and staff in ICT
 University interventions in accordance with the stipulated guidelines
 Widespread use of ICT in all university programmes
 ICT integrated into the day-today programmes management in the universities
 Faculty and staff equipped with ICT skills
 University programs
 ICT incorporation in other programs
 ICT incorporation in program
 Faculty & staff performance in ICT
 Programs will enhance efficiency
 Other programs will benefit from ICT incorporation
 Management will improve due to ICT incorporation
 Efficient out –put

Review questions
i).Examine the strategies for improving higher education.
ii)Discuss ways of mobilizing required resources for higher education
iii) Examine the status of University education investment programme.

CHAPTER FOUR; COMMISSION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

4.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic, the learner should be able to,
(i)Discuss the roles of the Commission for Higher Education
(ii)Discuss the impact of the Commission for Higher Education on equity and efficiency
in education.
4.1 Introduction
The Commission for Higher Education (CHE) is the key leader in higher education system. It
effectively works in partnership with other major higher education stakeholders in building the
country’s human capital and innovation capacity towards the development of the nation as a
responsible member of the international community. Given the national government’s
commitment to transformational Leadership that puts education as the central strategy for

43
investing in people, reducing poverty, and building national competitiveness and pursuant to the
country .CHE is mandated to;
 Promote relevant and quality higher education .It is expected that higher
education institutions and programs are at par with international standards and
graduates and professionals are highly competent and recognized in the
international arena.
 Ensure that quality higher education is accessible to all who seek it particularly
those who may not be able to afford it.
 Guarantee and protect academic freedom for continuing intellectual growth,
advancement of learning and research, development of responsible and effective
leadership, education of high level professionals, and enrichment of historical and
cultural heritages.
 Commit to moral ascendancy that eradicates corrupt practices, institutionalizes
transparency and accountability and encourages participatory governance in the
Commission and the subsector.
4.1.1 Objectives
The overall societal goal is the attainment of inclusive growth and sustainable
development while the higher education sub-sector goals are:
 Formation of high-level human resource.
 Generation, adaptation and transfer of knowledge and technology for national
development and global competitiveness.

CHE aims to achieve the following objectives;

• Improve the relevance of higher education institutions programs, systems, and
research.
• Upgrade the quality of higher education institutions, programs and systems in the
country towards achieving international standards.
• Broaden access to quality higher education of those who seek it.
• Efficiently and effectively manage the higher education system ensuring
transparency and integrity in its programs and activities as its commitment to
moral ascendancy.
• Strengthen the Commission on Higher Education and other major stakeholders.

4.1.2 Strategies
The CHE overall strategic framework is guided by five development thrusts, namely: -
Anti-corruption/transparent, accountable and participatory governance,
Poverty reduction and empowerment of the poor,
Rapid, equitable and sustained economic growth,
Just, inclusive and lasting peace and the rule of law,
Integrity of the environment/climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In order to maximize the higher education system’s contribution towards building the
country’s human capital and innovation capacity, CHE addresses the challenges besetting
the subsector particularly the following: lack of overall vision, framework and plan;
deteriorating quality of higher education; and limited access to quality higher education.

44
To achieve the above subsector objectives, CHE identifies and focuses on five major
key result areas , namely, (1) rationalized higher education system; (2) improved quality
and standards; (3) broadened access to quality higher education; (4) transparent, morally
ascendant, efficient and effective management system; and (5) effective organizational
development.
To achieve its first mandate and objective, CHE focuses on transparent, morally
ascendant, efficient and effective management system.

To achieve the first two objectives of improving relevance and quality of higher
education, CHE focuses on rationalized higher education system and improved quality
and standards.

To achieve objective CHE focuses on broadening access to quality higher education

through diversified but comprehensive student financial assistance programs and by
encouraging alternative learning systems and modes of delivery.
To achieve objective of strengthening CHE, organizational and human development
programs are conducted and facilities and operating systems upgraded and modernized.
To strengthen other major stakeholders, CHE initiates programs to reform State
Universities and Colleges.

4.1.3 Programs, Activities, and Projects

Rationalization of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and Programs within a
moratorium Period on the opening of new programs especially in oversubscribed
disciplines. The objective is to lay the foundation for a more efficient and effective
system in delivering quality public higher education services and for a more flexible
regulatory framework for private higher education provision. The project components of
the program include the following:
Aligning HEI programs with national development goals;
Job-Skills Matching Project ; In order to produce highly competent and competitive
graduates, HEIs are encouraged to offer programs that are in demand and responsive to
the needs of industry, both domestic and international. The job-skills matching project
includes:
 Formulation of master plans for priority disciplines.
 Review of curricula to make them fit the needs of industries.
 Establishment of labor market information system (LMIS) to provide up-to date
information on jobs that are in demand and hard to fill.
 To guide both students and parents in choosing courses.
 Identification of areas of mismatch.
 Implementation of strategies to address such mismatches.
 Massive information dissemination on employment opportunities among students
and HEIs.
 Periodic conduct of graduate tracer studies.
 Relevant and Responsive Research, Development and Extension (RDE). Under
this program, CHE supports the conduct of RDE aimed at generating, adapting
and transferring or applying new knowledge and technologies for improving

45
 productivity and livelihood, promoting peace, empowering women, protecting the
environment, reducing disaster devastation, and alleviating poverty.
4.2 Gender and Development Programs
This program includes advocacy and gender sensitivity activities to promote gender
parity in education, equal access to scholarships by both genders, and interventions
to assist female students with extreme personal situations that prevent them from
completing their higher education.

4.2 Typology and Mapping of HEIs and Programs

A system of classifying HEIs is designed based on their mandates and functions vis-a-vis
national development goals. This typology is harmonized with quality assurance criteria
to allow HEIs to focus and excel within their respective classifications and be recognized
for such excellence.
A map of HEIs and programs is updated to serve as decision support system for the
rationalization of HEIs and programs distribution in the county. The map provides
information on the current status of program offerings including quality, costs, and
marketability. It is used to match the program offerings with demand or thrusts at the
national and regional levels. The outputs is used as a basis for phasing out
oversubscribed programs and promoting under-subscribed but relevant programs.
4.3 Amalgamation of HEIs and Programs
The objective of this program is to restructure the higher education system specifically
the public component consisting of Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs), and other
Government schools to improve efficiency in the delivery of quality programs minimize
duplication and promote complementation between and among public and private HEIs.
The restructuring could be achieved partly through Regional University Systems and
development of specialized institutions. The project provides assistance in the initial
implementation of the RUS in a selected region, including joint research and extension,
academic program complementation, and infrastructure improvement.

Review questions
i)Discuss the roles of the Commission for Higher Education
(ii)Discuss the impact of the Commission for Higher Education on equity and efficiency
in education.

TOPIC FIVE;QUALITY AND STANDARDS

5.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to;
(i)Define quality assurance
(ii)Discuss the impact of quality assurance on job performance in higher education.
5.1 Quality Assurance Projects
These projects include the setting and enforcement of Policies, Standards and Guidelines
(PSGs) for academic programs, monitoring of compliance and phase out/closure of on-
compliant programs, Institutional Quality Assurance Monitoring and Evaluation and
accreditation.
Policies Standards and Guidelines (PSGs) formulation and enforcement

46
 In order to ensure that higher education programs are comparable to international
standards,CHE periodically conducts international benchmarking, reviews and updates
the PSGs for academic program offerings. These internationally-benchmarked PSGs, set
the minimum quality standards and requirements that HEIs have to comply with before
they are given permits to operate such academic programs and recognition to award
degrees to their students.CHE ensures that the programs offerered meet the set
standards. Program monitoring; closure/phase out of non-compliant programs .On-
going authorized programs are regularly monitored and those found to be non-
compliant are ordered for immediate closure or phase out. HEIS are monitored and
evaluated to determine compliance with Standard Training Certification.

5.1.1 Institutional Quality Assurance Monitoring and Evaluation

In addition to program monitoring and evaluation, HEIs are monitored. This is a
mechanism for monitoring and evaluation of outcomes of the programs processes and
services of higher education institutions in the key area of quality of teaching and
learning as supported by the governance and management, student services, relations
with the community, and management of resources.
5.1.2 Accreditation
HEIs with programs that attain standards above the minimum are encouraged and assisted
to have their programs evaluated by private creditors or a recognized body, leading to the
issuance of a certificate of accredited status.
Compliance with international standards
This involves participation in international/regional networks and cross-border
collaborations, and initiatives towards recognition of HEIs/programs by international
Entities

Quality Improvement Projects

These include interventions and initiatives aimed at improving institutional capacities and
capabilities of HEIs for providing quality education, such as faculty development, HEI
management development, establishment of Research and Development Centers.

Faculty Development Program

This program provides scholarships to upgrade the academic qualifications of HEIs
faculty (private and public) to master’s and doctorate degree levels and training for
Continuing Professional Education .It is expected that through the program , improved
qualifications and teaching methods will contribute directly to better student learning
which in turn translates into higher passing rates in professional licensure examinations
and greater productivity of graduates.
HEI Management Development Program.
This program aims to create awareness of the relationship between the quality of
senior/middle-level management and the quality of HEIs performance. It gives senior/middle-
level managers appropriate incentives and opportunities to access high-quality and relevant
Management development programs to strengthen their capacity as leaders of both public and
private HEIs.
Establishment of Research & Development (R&D) Centers

47
The Centers are mobilized to help CHE in promoting higher education research and bringing
closer the assistance necessary to strengthen research and development functions of HEIs. These
centers are also tapped to enhance the research productivity of the HEIs in terms of intellectual
property generation.
Centers of Excellence (COEs)/Centers of Development (CODs)
These are HEIs identified and recognized by CHE to serve as models of excellence and resource
centers for the other HEIs. Support to the COEs/CODs includes provision for student
scholarships, faculty development, library and laboratory upgrading, research and extension
services, development of instructional materials and implementation of networking and linkaging
activities.

Participation in International and Regional Networking

CHE, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs strengthens international
cooperation by joining international and regional bodies/networks, negotiating and
Facilitating bilateral/multilateral agreements on academic cooperation and linkages of local
HEIs with their counterparts in other countries as well as with international organizations.
5.1.4 Access to Quality Higher Education
Student Financial and Assistance Programs aims at at providing access to quality higher
education among poor but deserving students, consist of scholarships -including the Full Merit, ,
the beneficiaries of which are selected on the basis of their performance in qualifying
examinations; Grants-in-Aid- including: Study Grant Program meant for the students from poor
families, indigenous communities, and persons with disabilities; and student loans for the needy
but deserving students.
Promoting Alternative Learning System (ALS)
The Commission recognizes that education and acquisition of higher learning take place both
within and beyond the confines of the classrooms, and hence, the need to formally acknowledge
higher learning obtained from informal and non-formal modes of education.
Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program
Under this program, skills and competencies acquired outside the formal education system are
evaluated and accredited. ETEEAP is being implemented through deputized HEIs strategically
located all over the country. The deputized HEIs are CHE's partners in providing opportunities
for qualified working undergraduates to earn their academic degree through equivalency and
Accreditation.
5.1.5 Other Reforms include;
Reforms are being instituted in the governance, administration, and financial management of
SUCs, including (1) rotation of chairmanship in boards; (2) a strengthened search and
appointment system; (3) adoption of a code of good governance; and (4) implementation of
guidelines in the utilization of income.
Simplification of Frontline Services through IT Systems IT systems have been developed and
will be enhanced and fully utilized to improve efficiency in the provision of services to CHE
clients. These systems include the website,webmail, electronic verification and certification
system, document tracking system, document archival system, one stop shops, scholarship
administration system and feedback mechanisms (help desks and hotlines).

48
Violations of laws, rules and regulations and other complaints are acted upon through mediation,
and conduct of fact-finding investigations. Cases are filed with the appropriate bodies against
officials who are found to have committed punishable violations.
Organizational Development; CHE Human Resource Development program. This program is
designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness of CHE through managers and staff
participation in training programs, team building activities, and the availment of scholarships for
graduate studies.
Rationalization, Modernization and Upgrading of Physical Plant .A functioning building
maintenance office with CCTV cameras and updated security systems and outsourced
building maintenance, security, and housekeeping services are established in CHE national and
regional offices for the efficient use of its resources.
5.1.6 Major Targets
 Rationalization of Higher Education Institutions and Programs
 A typology of HEIs framework developed and implemented.
 Master plans for key higher education programs (teacher education, nursing
education, agriculture and sustainable development) completed and implemented;
.
 Curricula development and implemented to integrate 21st century skills and other
competencies responsive to labor market needs both local and international as
well as to the requirements of national development.
 Industry representatives are involved in all CHE technical panels/technical
committees that review and develop curricula.
 An updated and reliable labor market information system is established.
 Increased enrollment in critical high-level professional disciplines and hard-to-fill
jobs to be further reinforced by specially designed student financial incentives
and scholarships; Decreased enrollment in oversubscribed disciplines;
 Formulation of a development blueprint for the restructuring of public higher
education institutions. This effectively addresses the far-reaching effects of too
many institutions and programs on the quality and relevance of higher education
programs and on the optimization of national resource allocation.
 Development/adaptation/transfer of technologies for enhancing productivity and
quality of life, improving social services, and promoting environmental
protection, climate change mitigation and disaster risk reduction.

Heightened commitment and support to sustainable development initiatives through the

significant participation of HEIs, faculty and students in the disaster response and
related activities; development and launching of new academic programs in fields
needed for hazard reduction/environmental protection, e.g. atmospheric sciences,
engineering. Female scholars are supported to pursue higher education.

5.1.7 Quality and Standards

 Programs are periodically reviewed/updated/revised;
 Non-viable and substandard programs phased-out or closed;
 Improved HEIs compliance to standards and increased number of programs
accredited and supported;

49
  Scholarship and training provided for HEIs faculty and managers to upgrade their
academic qualifications and capabilities;
 Centers of Excellence/Centers of Development, and Research and Development
Centers recognized and supported;
 Global comparability and competitiveness of higher education enhanced through
current and expanded initiatives such as negotiation and execution of Mutual
Recognition Agreements with foreign economies.

5.1.8 Access to Quality Higher Education

Institution of a harmonized/integrated scheme of student financial assistance program
(STUFAP) though inter-government agency collaboration aimed at channeling the bulk
of public resources for post-basic education to students rather than institutions through
efficient and effective governance. This improves the criteria of targeting expanded
scholarship, grants and student loans and other forms of student financial assistance. The
revitalized scheme is also expected to:
 Increase the number of recipients from poor families,
 Optimize the use of public investments/ resources,
 Promote the matching of supply and demand for critical skills and professions, and

address emergency situations

 Provide assistance to displace and some marginalized groups.
 Widened access to higher education through current non-conventional higher
education schemes.
Some significant milestones towards reforming the system that have taken place include
the following;

The new CHE leadership has set the stage for more determined and concrete steps
towards higher quality and relevance of higher education through the formulation
of typologies of HEIs and quality assurance frameworks.

The momentum for rationalizing public HEIs through regional amalgamation has
been sustained and even accelerated with the further preparatory steps taken on
the merging more state universities and colleges towards the creation of the
envisioned Regional University System.

Curricula of in-demand programs such as Information Technology, Accounting
Technology, to mention but a few have been reviewed and updated to make these
more responsive to the needs of industry.

Opening of new programs in oversubscribed disciplines Business Administration,
Nursing, Teacher Education, Hotels and Restaurants Management and
Information Technology Education.

As a result of the upgrading of minimum quality standards for academic programs and
tightened monitoring undertaken.

Improved research capability and enhanced research productivity among HEIs. These
research centers, in turn, established networks/communities of researchers that are now
actively implementing CHE-funded & D programs/projects that are aimed at

50
 generating/adapting knowledge/technologies that could be transferred to/applied by end-
users for enhancing productivity and quality of life, particularly in the identified poorest
Communities.

To broaden access to higher education and improve opportunities for productive
employment among the poor and disadvantaged, CHE provided scholarship and
study grants

Resource Development Program to improve the morale and competency of the
agency's work force and institutions.

To improve relevance of higher education and research.

To broaden access to quality higher education

To improve quality of higher education and institutions

To improve relevance of higher education and research

To effectively and efficiently manage the higher education system

To strengthen the Commission on Higher Education and other major stakeholders

To strengthen the Commission on Higher Education and other major
stakeholders
5.2 Recommendations for effectiveness and efficiency in higher education.
1. Responding to demand for university academic programmes
• Pro-active measures should be taken by relevant government ministries to ensure that
university academic courses such as agriculture, environmental sciences, irrigation, and
natural resource management attract significant numbers of students in local universities.
Specific measures to be taken towards this end include immediate placement of university
graduates upon completion of their studies, besides informing and guiding students
concerning career choices.
• The Government and other stakeholders should be involved in the process of reviewing and re-
aligning the curriculum for each degree course offered at each public university with a view
to minimising duplication, redundancy, availability and expansion of those that add little
value or nil to the national development agenda in the context of Vision 2030 and beyond.
• The Government should provide scholarships for “public interest” courses, which are
considered important but do not attract sufficient numbers of applicants. The Government
should consider employing graduates of such courses and bond them to work in relevant
Government departments where they will use their skills to address issues affecting society.
2. Supply of places in Kenya’s public universities
• Excess capacity implies inefficient use of resources. Therefore, there should be a mechanism of
recognising differences of mission and capacity among public universities with the view to
encouraging each one of them to focus on what it can do best.This will ultimately encourage
these institutions to specialise in areas of study in which they have competitive advantages to
minimise duplication of courses that leads to inefficient use of resources.
3. Justification for scholarships to Kenyans going abroad for studies
• The government should review the criteria for evaluating applicants for scholarships to study
abroad to ensure that most of those awarded pursued degrees not offered in Kenya’s public
universities. This is to strategically prepare and meet skills gaps and requirements for the
country’s future development needs.

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 4. Developing a policy framework for the developing academic programmes in Kenya’s
public universities
• An effective manpower development and employment policy framework should be developed
so as to provide for the establishment of the necessary linkages and networking among all the
stakeholders including education institutions especially universities, industry and relevant
Ministries and Departments associated with HRD.
• A comprehensive labour market database should be created to ensure that labour market
information is provided to all stakeholders including learners at all levels of education and
training. Such information would enable them to make informed choices of academic and
training programmes in relevant institutions and minimise the skills mismatch between the
labour market and academic programmes offered in public universities
• The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and other relevant
government Ministries and Departments should develop an effective coordination
mechanism to harmonise training programmes so as to enhance complementarity and for
universities to develop training niches

Review questions
)Define quality assurance
(ii)Discuss the impact of quality assurance on job performance in higher education.

TOPIC SIX;IMPLEMENTING POLICIES RESPONSIVE TO VISION 2030 IN HIGHER

EDUCATION
6.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES;
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to;
(i)Outline the higher education policies that are geared towards realization of vision
2030.
(ii)Discuss the impact of higher education policies on the academic achievement of
learners.
(iii)Discuss for and against educational reforms in the current system.
6.1 Introduction
The introduction of parallel degree programmes at public universities has compounded the
inequality of opportunity in education. Some secondary school students feel that they no longer
need to score top grades because their parents can afford to pay for their university education,
obtainable even with a lower grade. Students who qualify for government scholarships at public
universities have to wait for two years before they enter college unlike those who pay their way.
In the end, the privileged few enter the job market while the disadvantaged many follow much
later, if at all. By this time, the job market may be saturated and more competitive with a lower
absorption capacity. This has exacerbated income disparities in Kenya, even when education is
expected to equalise opportunities. A new culture is emerging as the nation risks accumulating a
discordant workforce. These challenges point towards an education system that requires urgent
reforms. To achieve this, there is need to address emerging legal, policy and governance issues,
the resolution of which should lead to a paradigm shift in the national education sector. Radical
reforms in the education sector have never been needed as urgently as they are now. The
ppointment of several commission and task forces to tackle issues relating to education attests to

52
this need. Kenya can borrow from best practices in other nations such as Singapore, Malaysia,
South Korea, Japan, German, and the United States of America, among others. Several
commissions and task forces in recent times attest to this. That reform is, however, not possible
with the current general official lethargy in recognising the depth of the education crisis. The
attendant failure to develop a responsive and up-to-date policy environment for the education
sector is also a serious indictment. Given the current crisis and noting that the sector is governed
by policies and styles (of managing the education sector) that are overdue for reforms, the
Institute of policy Analysis and Research recognizes the need to critically analyse the dynamics
of Kenya’s education sector and advancing this policy
framework view.

6.2 Arising reform issues

Legal frameworks
The reform issues for the legal framework are captured by the following questions:
1. Are the Education and the public universities’ Acts sufficient in the context of the needs of the
society?
2. Have the Ministry of Basic Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science
and Technology provided clear and harmonized guidelines and ensured enforcement of
responsive governance, and dialogue practices for schools, middle level colleges and public
universities or have these practices been left to the discretion of individual school heads,
management boards and university councils?
3. Does the Education Act and the public universities’ Acts provide for an apt legal framework
(with mechanisms) to adopt and institutionalize progressive findings from National Tasks Forces
or Commissions on Education such as the Simon Ominde, Peter Gachathi, C.B. Mackay, James
Kamunge, Dave Koech ones, among others?

6.2.1 Short-term strategies

The following short-term recommendations should be implemented immediately to set the stage
for long term and sustainable actions.
1. Revising the Education Act and the Universities’ Acts: The Education Act and the public
universities Acts should be revised to respond and conform to the requirements of Vision 2030
and after its attainment.
2. Reforming the Education Systems and Curricula: Develop a legal framework for
making public findings and recommendations of past and new Education Commissions. The
framework should also outline how to adopt the commissions’ relevant and progressive
recommendations with the view to overhauling and re-aligning the national education ystem and
incorporating emerging global developments in education and learning. Create a new social
studies curriculum for compulsory implementation in all schools at all levels that deal with issues
of governance and national patriotism, and community service.
3. Nurturing quality of education professionals: Create positions of, fill and deploy
professional psychologists at the divisional, district, provincial and national levels within the
framework of devolved education sector management; and evolve a mechanism for behavioural
change management.
4. Review job descriptions and increase requirements for minimum qualifications for
Senior Education Officers and other specialist professionals serving the education sector.
5. Disciplining students: The education sector should develop pillars for students’

53
conduct in schools along the following pathways: Exemplary discipline, academic
excellence, leadership and group dynamics, environmental conservation, and national patriotism
and community service.
6. Borrow best practices from Tanzania and South Africa to establish a legal framework
for acceptable punishment due to belligerent students and train discipline masters on its
implementation.
7.Strengthening stakeholders’ partnerships and building values: Develop mechanisms to
strengthen Partnerships among education sector stakeholders including parents, teachers, private
sector actors and officers of the responsible ministry.
8.Develop systems that ensure adherence to merit through the universities Joint admissions
Board, to ensure that any student applying for admission into a public
university (for both JAB and Parallel Programme) attains a minimum grade or better of the
approved university cut-off points for the relevant year.
9. There should be proper monitoring of admissions at public universities to ensure that there are
more students in the regular programme than in the parallel degree one against JAB declared
capacities.
10. Implement a ‘Double Intake Programme’, to eliminate the backlog of secondary school
leavers admitted to public universities.
11. Review the universities curricula in line with suggested reforms in primary and secondary
education.

6.2.2Long-term strategies
Increasing the number and variety of middle level colleges: Strengthen the middle level
colleges such as Youth Polytechnics, Institutes of Technology, Medical Training Colleges,
Teachers Colleges, among others to mass-produce skilled human resources. This would trigger
rapid economic growth and industrialization as has been witnessed in Asian giants and newly-
industrialised countries such as Japan, among others.
Enhancing human resource development: Develop a responsive ‘National Human Resource
Development Policy’ and identify priority areas in the context of Vision 2030. For instance, in
capacity building, education sector planning and policy analysis, skills enhancement among
science teachers, skills enhancement in technical services, e.g., school laboratory technicians,
among others. Thus:
a. There is need to periodically commission studies with the aim of creating and promoting
alternative education programmes that are more efficient and that have greater potential to attain
positive effects on society.
b. Re-think the linkage between education and employment by reviewing the public education
curriculum to include vocational and technical subjects and create
appropriate synergies among middle-level training institutions (e.g. youth polytechnics, institutes
of technology, national polytechnics, etc) and universities.
c. Create special programmes for over-age and out-of school youth in order to integrate them into
the national education system. Particular attention should be paid to adult
Enhancing education policy formulation processes: Promote the culture of education sector
planning and policy formulation based on research findings rather than political pronunciations.
a. Introduce an ‘Education Levy’ to finance reforms in the sector.
b. Develop a responsive policy on textbook content (in the context of revised curricula),
procurement and supplies with a view to inculcating a culture of reading among learners.

54
c. Establish a national database on education to support policy formulation and implementation.

1. Review and re-align the curriculum for each degree programme offered at each public
university with a view to minimizing duplication and redundancy, and enhance availability and
expand such programmes that add value to the national development agenda in the context of
Vision 2030.
2. Develop a policy framework that would guide public university to re-engineer themselves into
Centres of Excellence in selected disciplines and eliminate unnecessary inter-university
programme overlaps.
3. Require each public university to develop and administer independent University entrance
Examinations for every approved degree programme for new students.
4. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology develops innovative
policies such as Science and Technology Policy, Science Parks’ Policy and Biopolicy,
among others, that would encourage rapid establishment and deployment of Science Parks, to
which universities would have access.

6.3 Role of Education and Training in the Realization of Vision 2030

The main issues facing the education sector have been challenges of access, equity, quality,
relevance and efficiency in the management of educational resources. In addition, there is limited
capacity to cater for the growing demand for access to university and TVET education; mismatch
between skills acquired by graduates and the demands of industry; rigid admission criteria that
restricts credit transfers between universities, and graduates from other post-secondary
institutions; and gender and regional disparities. The Government has embarked on a series of
reforms to address these challenges and meet the demands of the Kenya Vision 2030.
It is important to implement sustainable micro and macro-economic policies that aim at
elimination of poverty, stimulate growth of the economy and ensure resource redistribution.
High-performance enterprises that demand high skilled labour while creating quality
employment opportunities to absorb graduates from formal and technical education and training
programmes are essential. It is necessary to create a sustained economic growth trend devoid of
political and economic shocks that promote industrialization and sustained development. There is
need to also create a conducive environment for high technology adaptation and innovation; and
address education objectives on improving access, participation and progression while
eliminating inequalities; ensuring relevance and efficiency and effectiveness in education service
delivery.

The vision for the education and training sector is to provide a globally competitive quality
education, training and research for sustainable development. Therefore, education and training
will play a key role in the attainment of Vision 2030. Apart from reducing illiteracy, the sector
trains and provides human resources; an ingredient in the economic, social and political
development of any society. Under the Vision 2030, education and training will provide required
knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to drive the initiatives set in the pillars. On the
economic pillar, education and training will play a fundamental role in the training of adequate
and highly skilled human capital to support the sector growth.

Agriculture Re-orient agricultural management and practise through appropriate training for
innovative, commercially oriented and modern sector Tourism Training appropriate human

55
resources in hospitality industry to spearhead and sustain growth in the sector Manufacturing
Develop appropriate skills to revolutionalise the sector towards higher productivity Enabling
Sectors Provide both technical and management human resources capital to spearhead innovative
and efficient management of transportation, energy, telecommunications, social services and
construction , Business Processing Outsourcing Capacity development (manpower) to manage
and drive the sector aspirations Wholesale and Retail Tailor training towards entrepreneurship
and business management .Vision 2030 – The National Economic and Social Council of Kenya
Financial Services Provide relevant training for the management, growth and sustainability of a
vibrant and globally competitive sector.Training of quantity and quality human resources
supports sector growth, and provides an equal opportunity for participation in economic
development .

In order to achieve Vision 2030, an underlying challenge is the attitudinal mind-set change
needed to create and sustain a responsible and a cohesive society. As the country recasts and
develops the various social systems, education and training will be challenged to impart
knowledge and skills to improve management of social systems, change of mind-set (attitude
change) towards nurturing a cohesive and knowledgeable society, with a culture of national
values and value for life and basic human rights. At the same time, this society will embrace
Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I), conserve, sustain and exploit our environment for
sustainable development and above all, a society that exploits opportunities and takes
responsibility

There is a linkage between Education and Training and Social Pillar Health Incorporate basic
(preventive/promotive) health in the curriculum at the basic levels, and continued capacity
development in human resources for health. Water and Sanitation Inculcate a culture of basic
hygiene and responsible water use, as well as in embracing modern technology in water
extraction and delivery Gender Mainstream gender in the education and training to secure parity
in various sectors Housing Develop relevant human resources capacity to transform the
construction industry, and to benefit local entrepreneurial management in the sector Environment
Provide appropriate manpower training on environmental management, as well as provide a
basis for mindset towards positive environmental behavior. The National Economic and Social
Council of Kenya Youth Empower the youth with relevant knowledge, skills and attitude,
inculcating a culture of responsibility, hard work and accountability. Education and Training
Impart knowledge and skills to improve management of social systems, change of mindset
(attitude change) towards nurturing a cohesive and knowledgeable society, with a culture of
tolerance, equity, nationalism, respect and value for life and basic human rights .

The realization of Vision 2030 will be achieved through the provision of an all-inclusive quality
education that is accessible and relevant because quality education and training contributes to
economic growth and creates employment opportunities. Therefore, in-order to achieve the
desired economic growth, social development and political maturity, high priority will be placed
on development of human capital through education and training by promoting and sustaining
basic and higher education, technical and vocational training with an emphasis on ST&I.

6.3.1 Open and Distance Learning (ODL)

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ODL approaches to education focus on expanding access, quality and equity to education, and as
such can address the demands on education of the Constitution (2010) and the aspirations of
Vision 2030. The philosophy of Open, Distance Learning (ODL) is characterized by the removal
of barriers to accessing education. Learners can study what they want, when they want, where
they want and at whatever age they may wish to do so. ODL systems typically use technology to
mediate learning; for example, printed study materials, audio, computers, TV, mobile and wire
telephones and the web. ODL can give learners access to education that they would not
otherwise have had for various reasons.

In Kenya the marginalised and hard-to-hard to reach people live far away from educational
institutions. The working class are unable to leave their work places during working hours to
attend formal classes. Migration, mobile working or nomadic lifestyles are obstacles to learning
in the traditional sense. Poor transport systems, limited places in the mainstream education sector
restrict people‟s access to education. This makes ODL an attractive alternative. Currently, ODL
learning approaches are being used in Kenya to train teachers and other professionals at relevant
institutions.

Although there is a mention of Open and Distance Learning in Sessional Paper no. 1 of 2005, the
government lacks a policy on ODL. There is also a total absence of ODL approaches in primary
and secondary education in Kenya, especially in areas where physical, socioeconomic and time
factors hinder the delivery and access of education in the traditional way. Some parts of the
country are not covered by mainstream electronic media because of the absence of infrastructure,
thereby raising further issues of ensuring equity of access. There is little awareness among
education recipients and providers of the value of ODL, or of its viability in delivering quality
education. The education media at KIE is currently not fully operationalized to meet the
challenge of education broadcasting needs in ODL in spite of the investment that has been made
in it because of the limited digital TV broadcast coverage.

6.3.2 Policies To Adopt Distance And Open Learning Approaches

To implement this policy the government will employ the following strategies:
(i) Develop and implement an overall ODL policy, including incorporating a legal framework;
(ii) Mainstream ODL in the education system in Kenya.
(iii) Initiate the development of ODL approaches to meet the educational needs of e- Learners,
Online learners and Distance learning students at all levels of education, and in ASAL areas,
pastoral communities, marginalized groups, special needs education and non -formal education
(iv) Develop a regulatory and legal framework for all institutions to enable them to establish
open learning opportunities.
(v) Establish partnerships with ODL providers at national and international levels.
(vi) Provide capacity for teacher‟s education managers Evaluate the outcomes of the actions to
determine efficacy and effectiveness of ODL especially e-Learning programmes.
(vii) Establish an ODL broadcasting station, possibly at the proposed ICTEC for the purpose of
transmitting ODL programmes to all areas of the country.
(viii) Design a framework that will ensure affordable allocation of airtime for the promotion of
ODL programmes.

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(ix) Enhance development and dissemination of educational content through education channel
at curriculum development centre. Fully equip the proposed ODL satellite centres with the
necessary resources and other ICT facilities.
(x) Mobilise funds for the launching of the educational broadcasting services with outreach to all
areas of the country.
(xi) Disseminate ODL as alternative mode of delivery of wide range of courses in all
public/private universities and middle level colleges.

Review questions
(i)Outline the higher education policies that are geared towards realization of vision
2030.
(ii)Discuss the impact of higher education policies on the academic achievement of
learners.
(iii)Discuss for and against educational reforms in the current system.

TOPIC SEVEN;TVET SECTOR IN KENYA

7.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES;
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to;
(i)Outline the objectives of TVET
(ii)Discuss the impact of TVET in higher education.
(iii)Discuss the guiding principles of TVET.
7.1 Introduction
Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) refers to a range of learning experiences
which are relevant to the world of work and may occur in a variety of learning contexts including
education and training institutions and workplaces. The main focus of this policy is to realize a
Kenyan workforce trained and certified to international standards, stimulating employment,
creating investments, contributing to the improved productivity, competitiveness and prosperity
of individuals, enterprises and the nation. The policy further seeks to provide quality and
inclusive TVET, especially to disadvantaged groups including learners with disabilities and
marginalized and rural populations, improve gender equality. The policy also seeks to develop
and strengthen TVET teaching standards at all levels to reflect realities in industry.

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7.1.1 TVET Philosophy
The TVET philosophy is based on national development agenda and in particular, Vision 2030.
It is also focused on providing skills that meet the workplace as well as self-employment.
Tertiary education, including TVET, is premised on the principle “education and training for the
workplace”. TVET will therefore be provided for the purpose of guaranteeing human and
economic development. The outcomes of TVET must therefore be human resources fit for the
job market. Vocational Education and Training component is responsible for the production of
skilled operators to service construction, maintenance and operation of equipment and
infrastructure.
In addition, TVET component is responsible for producing graduates who perform supervisory
and management functions in industry. It is essential therefore that the TVET graduates possess
the right attitudes to work, have the right core values and above all, can be relied upon to deliver
at the workplace. It is important to entrench soft or generic skills such as integrity; ethics,
professionalism and accountability in TVET.
TVET Vision
A skilled, globally competitive and employable human resource.
TVET Mission
To provide, promote and co-ordinate TVET by assuring quality, inclusiveness and relevance for
the enhancement of national economy and global competitiveness.
Goal of TVET
The overall goal of TVET is to provide relevant and adequate skills for industrial and economic
development in line with the aspirations identified in Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the Constitution
of Kenya (2010).

7.2 TVET Objectives

The main objective of TVET will be to develop an effectively co-ordinated and harmonized
TVET system that is capable of producing quality skilled human resource with the right attitudes
and values required for growth and prosperity of the various sectors of the economy.
Specific objectives of TVET are to:
(i) Provide adequate and appropriate skilled Artisans, Craftsmen, Technicians and Technologists
at all levels of the economy through practical training and work experience;
(ii) Transfer technology continuously through collaborative approach between TVET institutions
and the relevant industries;
(iii) Promote dignity and decency of labour, particularly manual work;
(iv) Provide increased training opportunities for the increasing school leavers and other trainees
to increase employability;
(v) Provide continuous upgrading of skills and knowledge at the pace and ability of the trainees;
(vi) Provide a dynamic curriculum responsive to the manpower needs of a dynamic economy;
(vii) Impart marketable skills, technical know-how and attitudes that respond to contemporary
labour market demands by the industry, informal sector and for self-employment;
(viii) Build on gains acquired in prior learning by promoting and sustaining entrepreneurial and
technological innovations among the youth in TVET;
(ix) Re-direct the potential of learners towards productive economic activities and
(x) Provide life skills to learners that will enable them to cope with the challenges of adulthood
and working life.

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7.3 Guiding Principles
This policy promotes the Government‟s endeavours to operate within the following principles:
(i) Access and equity – Every Kenyan has a right to access quality and relevant education and
training. The policy shall therefore create an enabling environment, opportunities and
mechanisms to provide pathways to those seeking to pursue quality technical training at all
levels.
(ii) Inclusivity and respect for cultural and social diversity- National values shall be respected
and promoted in all TVET institutions and this includes principles that pay attention to the
people with disability and respect human dignity while ensuring equity, equality and protection
of marginalized societies.
(iii)Non-discrimination- There shall be no discrimination on grounds of race, colour, gender,
religion, national or social origin, economic status, political or other opinions.
(iv) Quality and Relevance –Emphasis shall be placed on demand driven training. This
principle shall promote technical, professionalism, knowledge and qualification needed in the
various sectors of the economy.
(v) National integration- Employment opportunities, occupational standards and development
prospects within TVET structures shall be made available to all Kenyans
(vi) Life-long Learning- The training will be designed to operate within a framework of open-
ended and flexible structures in the context of lifelong education and training. This is the
principle for continuing training for improvement of professional qualifications and updating of
knowledge, skills and understanding.
(vii) Entrepreneurship Culture- TVET examination and competence assessment shall be
centred on promoting and developing innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial minds for self-
reliance.
(viii) Complimentality -Education for those receiving technical, industrial, vocational and
entrepreneurship training in the form of on-the-job training or other training in institutions or
other facilities.
(ix) Environment –Protection of the environment and the common heritage of the country.
(x) Partnerships – Creating and promoting an enabling environment for Public-Private
Partnerships for enhancing investment in technical training .
(xi) Information and Communication – Promoting integration of information and marketing of
training opportunities through ICT.
(xii) Leadership: Leadership within TVET Structure and organs shall be based on the principles
of serving people with integrity, ethical practices, respect for the people and fairness among
others.
7.4 7.4Enhancing Access, Equity, Quality and Relevance in TVET 7.4.1 Access and Equity
The total population of Kenya is projected to reach 60 million in 2030 from the current
approximate population of 40 million. This necessitates investment and expansion of the wealth
and employment creation base through enhanced productivity growth, to provide for the growing
population. Kenya‟s demographic profile indicates a high percentage of a young population. The
number of young people graduating annually from the secondary school system is increasing at
a high rate. According to the national census conducted in 2009, there are over 8 million
Kenyans aged between 17 and 24 years who are eligible for training in tertiary institutions.
The cost of university education and TVET is increasing and requires substantial investments
with a high impact on government budget and out of reach to most households. There exists
social and geographical inequalities in access to TVET services which is worsened by the high

60
poverty levels. There are also issues raised about the quality and relevance of tertiary education.
The Government recognizes that education and training of all Kenyans is fundamental to the
success of the Kenya Vision 2030. In order to realize the national development goals, relevant
and quality education and training is required to meet the human development needs of a rapidly
changing and a more diverse economy. A major challenge remains in ensuring and enhancing
access and equity in education and training standards.
Despite the progress made over the last decade in enhancing access, retention, quality,
completion rates and gender parity in education and training, the TVET sector continues to face
many challenges. These include: an insufficient number of trainers with pedagogical
competency, inadequate number of TVET centres, limited availability of customized teaching
and learning materials, limited industry participation and inadequate research support services.
Other challenges include poor geographical distribution of TVET institutions, negative
perception of TVET, low enrolment for females in Science Engineering and Technology SET
courses and unfriendly environment for people with special needs. Furthermore there is
uncoordinated admission of students to TVET institutions. There is also low enrolment in TVET
institutions due to the high cost of technical training and lack of awareness. The result is that
most trainees end up in cheap alternative programmes whose graduates do not acquire the
requisite skills necessary for the world of work.
7.4.1.1 Policies adopted to meet the challenges in TVET.
(i) Pursue TVET expansion programmes at national, county and constituency level to accelerate
attaining and sustaining a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 20% in TVET by 2023.
(ii) Provide adequate training opportunities for accessible competency based training

To implement these policies, the Government will implement the following strategies:
(i) Conduct a baseline survey on the status of TVET in the country.
(ii) Establish a central admission service for TVET government sponsored students ;
(iii)Expand TVET facilities targeting national priority sectors;
(iv) Provide TVET training with respect to persons with special needs.
(v) Provide TVET training while ensuring affirmative action with respect to vulnerable groups,
gender, hard to reach minority and marginalized groups ;
(vi) Establish at least one Vocational Training Centre(VTC) at constituency level and at least one
Technical College (TC) at county level to increase equity;
(vii) Increase the number of Technical Teacher Training Colleges (TTTC) from one to five,
National Polytechnics (NPs) from five to eight and Technical Universities (TUs) to five at the
national level;
(viii) Make training delivery flexible through modular delivery process and, incorporate
electronic technologies in TVET provision;
(ix) Enhance participation of women in TVET and gender mainstreaming through affirmative
action;
(x) Provide career guidance and placement services to support students in career planning and
guidance;
(xi) Integrate aspects of Vocational Education and Training at all levels and;
(xii) Streamline the management of industrial attachment.

7.4.2 Quality and Relevance

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Quality TVET programmes guarantee a strong link between skills learnt and the needs of the
labour market, by producing graduates with superior employability. Creating flexible pathways
at all levels will facilitate vertical and lateral progression of TVET students as part of lifelong
learning for their employability. A deliberate effort should thus be made to ensure that the
available flexible pathways provide students with skills that are relevant to the labour market,
along with acceptable levels of literacy, numeracy, skills, values and attitudes. Quality assurance
is therefore essential throughout the TVET system and should be integrated into all parts of the
qualification system.
Since 2008, the quality assurance function of Technical, Industrial, Vocational and
Entrepreneurship Training (TIVET) institutions in Kenya has been a function of the Ministry of
Higher Education, Science and Technology through the Directorate of Technical Accreditation
and Quality Assurance. Owing to the fragmented nature of TVET in Kenya, the quality of
training differs greatly from one institution to another. There is therefore need to ensure
harmonization and coordination of programs, by standardizing the quality and relevance of
training in TVET institutions.
There are also challenges to do with quality assurance, curriculum design and delivery, leading
to instances of training that does not meet the quality and relevance required. In addition, there
has been ineffective coordination and synchronisation of the TVET sector. Further, there is
inadequate planning data due to weak mechanisms for conducting tracer studies and the absence
of a labour market information system to provide data on skill demands.

To address these challenges the Government shall adopt the following policies
(i) Assure quality in TVET on all aspects of competency based education and training, skills
instruction design, development and delivery;
(ii) Establish a TVET authority to regulate institutions and programmes and assure quality.

To implement the above policy the Government will implement the following strategies:
(i) Establish Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority;
(ii) Streamline the management and assessment of industrial attachment process;
(iii)Review and enforce minimum TVET trainers‟ qualifications including compulsory industrial
attachment for TVET trainers at least every three years of service;
(iv) Institutionalize quality assurance and accreditation system and monitoring, evaluation,
reporting, and inspection in TVET;
(v) Establish a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) and other survey instruments for data
on the actual employability of TVET graduates in partnership with industry,;
(vi) Develop standards to guarantee a minimum quality for TVET and develop policies, plans
and guidelines for the rebranded TVET;
(vii) License, register and accredit all TVET institutions according to established quality
standards;
(viii) Promote quality and relevance in training according to needs within the framework of the
overall national socio-economic development plans and policies;
(ix) Develop coherent quality indicators for input, process, output and outcome measures linked
to objectives to be achieved through TVET;
(x) Promote action research in TVET and link information gathered and analysed from labour
market surveys and other studies and;

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7.4.2.1 Curriculum and Assessment in TVET
Quality human resource is an important determinant of sustainable national growth and
development. There is therefore need to progressively increase the rate of generation of a high
quality skilled human resource with a special focus on developing and upgrading innovation
competencies within training for employment. There is weak linkage between basic education,
TVET and University curriculum. Most programmes were developed long before the conception
of Kenya Vision 2030 and are not well aligned to the vision. TVET education must meet the
demands for innovative and market driven skills, to enhance productivity and employment.
There is also a weak link among universities, research institutions, industry and curriculum
developers leading to a mismatch of skills learnt and industry demands.
The present skills development system in Kenya follows a curriculum-based, time-bound
approach rather than demand-driven approach. The majority of courses are designed, delivered
and assessed on a centralized standard curriculum. For these courses, certification is based on
completion of courses and passing examinations rather than demonstration of competency.
However, there are some authorized institutions running decentralized programmes. Although
there are many service providers of curriculum development and assessment within the tertiary
TVET level, the reform to competency based assessment and training will require specialized
institutions and coordination. This scenario requires a reform of curriculum development and
assessment, to allow for multiple providers of curriculum, examinations, assessment and training
services to ensure global competitiveness.
Most public sector technical and vocational institutes tend not to specialize in training for a
particular economic sector, but offer a range of generic courses, which do not always correspond
to the diversity of actual economic activities. The training is generally not geared towards self-
employment as testing mainly evaluates the cognitive domain with minimal emphasis on the
affective and psychomotor domains. TVET programmes need to be market driven and address
the needs of the workplace as well as promote self-employment. Infrastructure and equipment in
TVET institutions need to be improved to correspond with the rapid technological changes.
There is low adoption of ICT in TVET by teachers, trainers, lecturers and managers.
There is need for diversification of training and vertical articulation of curricula across all levels
in order to support flexible progression pathways. The flexible pathways should be designed to
facilitate the accumulation, recognition and transfer of individual learning. This can be achieved
through: transparent, well-articulated outcome-based qualifications systems. The systems should
offer reliable measures for assessment, recognition and validation of qualifications nationally and
at the international level; exchange of information and development of trust and partnerships
among all stakeholders.
To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policies:
(i) Reform curricula in line with relevant provisions of the Constitution 2010, aspirations of
Kenya Vision 2030, the East African Community Treaty, international standards and the needs
of the society;
(ii) Ensure that all courses in TVET are competency based, market-driven and address the needs
of the workplace as well as promote employability, soft, generic and life skills in partnership
with private sector and professional bodies;
To implement the above policies the Government will implement the following strategies;
(i) Establish TVET Curriculum Development Assessment and Certification Council; to develop
curricula, administer assessment and award certificates, in collaboration with industry; -
(ii) Initiate and mainstream competence based training to enable TVET graduates acquire skills,

63
knowledge and right attitudes to perform jobs to the required standard in collaboration with
industry; (iii)Provide a framework for reforming TVET to shift from time bound, curriculum
based training to flexible, competency based training; and supply–led to demand-driven training;
(iv) Develop the capacity of trainers to integrate and use ICT in curriculum design, delivery and
assessment;
(v) Regularly develop and review training curricula in collaboration with industry through
monitoring labour market needs;
vi) Enhance entrepreneurship and technopreneurship in all TVET programmes to promote self-
reliance;
(vii) Establish a framework for TVET trainees and trainers to be attached in industry to gain
hands-on-skills and;
viii) Ensure the curriculum is globally competitive by linking it with the National Qualification
Framework (NQF)

7.5 Centres of Excellence

Starting from 2007, the government established 11 Centres of Excellence under the KESSP 2005
– 2010, specializing in certain selected disciplines. However, the existing programmes of
excellence in these centres need reviewing to link them to national development priority areas, as
identified in the vision 2030. The centres will be improved to meet the needs of modern lifestyles
of a knowledge-based society, which demands institutions to pursue and sustain global
competitiveness. Under this program a centre of excellence is conceptualized as an institution
with sufficient capacity and track record of providing excellent workers for an identified industry
sector. It is therefore important that industry plays a leading role in the recognition of excellence.
The existing centres of excellence have limited capacity to integrate production in training and to
collaborate innovatively with the private sector and other institutions, as they lack adequate
autonomy to make critical decisions and enter into financial contracts. Further, the establishment
of a centre of excellence has tremendous financial implications in attracting high-end human
resource and real investment of the required state-of-the-art infrastructure.

To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policy:

Identify and develop centres of excellence linked and aligned with national priority areas for
improved multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral knowledge generation and international
competitiveness.

To implement the above policies the Government will employ the following strategies;
(i) Establish state-of-the-art TVET centres of national importance that can compete at the
international level with priority focus in supporting flagship projects in the areas of energy, ICT,
infrastructure and automobile sectors in collaboration with the private sector.
(ii) Develop and implement a standard for identification and recognition of regional centres of
excellence in line with local needs, demands and dominant resources available.
(iii)Establish incubation centres within selected TVET institutions

Linkages with Industry

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TVET in countries that have witnessed significant economic transformation has had dynamic
industry institution linkages. This has not been the case in Kenya, as the TVET sector has weak
linkages with industry. Since the ultimate objective of TVET is employability and employment
promotion, it is necessary to link training to the needs of the labour market. TVET must be
relevant and demand-driven, rather than supply-driven and a stand-alone activity
Close and productive interaction between academia, private sector and public institutions in all
fields is vital in harnessing the existing potential in a coordinated manner. However, research
institutions, academia and industry in Kenya have for long been operating in separate domains.
This situation needs clear policy interventions to promote interaction between academia, private
sector and public institutions when county governments are established. While the situation is
slowly changing, policy must be proactive in recognizing and taking advantage of the prevailing
constitutional regime.
The intersecting needs and mutually interdependent relationships call for a well-conceived
integration between the public sector, academia and industry. In this regard, the national and
county governments will be key players in the integration process through the enactment of
various enabling policy instruments and availing the necessary incentives to support the
integration process. The rationale for academia to work closely with industry is based on the
increasing complexity in academia and business world and the constantly changing needs of
industry. Further, the increasing interdependence between academia and industry require TVET
to reform the linkage with industry for continuous sustenance and innovation.

7.5.1To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policies:
(i) Promote the role of industry in both the design and delivery of TVET programs to be more
relevant and demand-driven, rather than supply-driven and a stand-alone activity.
(ii) Institutionalise industry inputs into training through the establishment of Industry Advisory
Groups (IAG).

To implement these policies the Government will employ the following strategies;
(i) Develop industry-institution collaboration guidelines to support the development of
competence standard, modular training, curriculum review among others
(ii) Create and promote an enabling environment by establishing Specific Industry Advisory
Groups (IAG) that are employer led, government licensed and independent organisations.
(iii)Link student projects with dominant local community and industry demands with clear
performance indicators;
(iv) Develop a framework for differentiating TVET institutions in identifying their own niche
areas and core competencies;
(v) Organize biennial forum of stakeholders to share knowledge, experiences and review
progress in the TVET sector;
(vi) Develop trainer-industry links to enhance quality of contracts being key performance
indicators for industrial training;
(vii) Mainstream industry in policy making for the long term development and reform standards
in the education and training programmes, in line with the national qualifications framework;
(viii) Establish an industrial attachment standard for all TVET trainees and trainers, for
enhancing their hands-on-skills;
(ix) Develop a framework that will require institutions to involve industry in training, joint
research and providing practical skills and modern training equipment;

65
(x) Enhance the apprenticeship system to allow TVET graduates to work and study and;
(xi) Require all TVET institutions to establish student tracer mechanisms and strengthen
institutional alumni.

7.6 Re-Branding TVET

Currently the TVET sector is faced with a challenge of negative perception and poor image
which has accumulated over time unattended. TVET is often seen as last choice education and
not a preferred option in education and training. High quality, accessible and relevant TVET is
associated with higher status and improved attractiveness of TVET. The poor image of TVET
can be attributed to a conspiracy of factors related to access, equity, quality and relevance of
TVET. It is common knowledge that this negative perception is caused by lack of specialization
in TVET institutions, lack of clear admission and progression procedures, poor career guidance
on TVET in basic education, inappropriate infrastructure and equipment, weak staff management
system, weak curriculum, examination and competence assessment procedures as well as low
funding.

To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policy:
Re-brand TVET to reposition the sector in society and attract the best students into the sector and
ensure the utmost contribution to the economy
7.6.1To implement these policies the Government will employ the following strategies;
(i) Develop and implement a re-branding strategy for TVET within a five years‟ plan;
(ii) Enhance the TVET image by improving programs, advertisement and infrastructure,
advocacy and publicity campaigns;
(iii) Refurbish infrastructure, improve learning environment and change the image of TVET;
(iv) Integrate role modelling and mentoring in TVET sector;
(v) Integrate Pro‐Active Job‐Skill Matching by seeking business opportunities and jobs through
domestic and international labour market intelligence;

66
(vi) Implement the principles of multiple entry and exit, self‐paced/modular paced/modular
learning, industry learning and assessment, recognition of prior learning and national
recognition/accreditation for acquired competencies;
(vii) Widening industry partnerships to provide the students with an authentic learning
environment and exposure to real‐life industry projects and applications;
(viii) Develop new products and engage TVET students in programmes and projects of national
importance;
(ix) Promote the use of TVET research outputs in national development through adaptation and
diffusion of technology in production systems and processes;
(x) Promote excellence and creativity in science, engineering and technology components in
TVET;
(xi) Enhance training specialization in TVET in line with market demands and national
aspirations;
(xii) Increase employability of TVET graduates by aligning curriculum with market demands;
(xiii) Promote research and patenting of innovations in TVET;
(xiv) Expand the scope on innovation within TVET institutions.
(xv) Provide incentives and rewards to attract gifted and talented students in TVET

7.7 TVET Trainer Education and Management

The Teachers Service Commission has the constitutional mandate to manage teachers in Kenya.
Currently TSC provides teachers to public TVET institutions under MoHEST, MoE and Ministry
of Labour (MOL). However, other ministries that offer TVET have mechanisms for recruiting
and remunerating teachers for their respective TVET institutions. Currently public TVET
institutions face shortage of technical trainers. To address the shortage, BoGs should recruit
trainers to supplement those from TSC. However, limited resources and terms of service has
made attraction and retention of BoG trainers elusive. There is a marked difference in the
remuneration between the two categories, leading to high turnover and understaffing. Whereas
trainers recruited by TSC have a clear scheme of service and have appointments designating
them as lecturers, those managed by BoGs or other employers do not have a harmonised scheme
of service.
Quality technical skills are a critical component of an effective TVET trainer. Education faculties
in most local universities offer teacher education programs oriented to secondary school
education. Although Moi University trains teachers in technology education for the TVET sector,
There are no adequate education programs to supply the TVET sector with trainers.
Consequently, trainers qualify in disciplines other than education and then convert to teaching/
training through a pedagogical skills training program at the Kenya Technical Teachers College.
The KTTC trains technical teachers in technical fields, with most of the graduates getting jobs in
TVET institutions.
Vocational training centres and other TVET centres in other government departments outside the
mainstream education, are not required to undergo pedagogical training, therefore the quality of
training in TVET is not harmonized. Whereas, it is currently not a requirement for TVET trainers
to have pedagogical competency as a condition for recruitment, the TSC as per the provisions of
the constitution has a clearly defined criteria for the minimum specifications of pedagogical and
content knowledge. The development of a policy of trainer development would make it
mandatory for all TVET trainers to have pedagogical skills.

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To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policies:
(i) Empower TVETA to coordinate the management and development of trainers, while the TSC
manages teachers in the TVET sector;
(ii) Establish a trainer education and development standard, based on accepted principles that
will ensure optimal delivery of competency based education and training for the benefit of the
trainees
(iii) Develop TVET trainers through pre-service training and in-service exposure to continuous
professional development.

To implement these policies the Government will employ the following strategies;
(i) Develop and implement a competency based trainer management standard for TVET;
(ii) Develop a framework for creating a training system for TVET trainers and a competence
model which will become a basis for self-assessment procedures;
(iii)Review and enforce minimum TVET trainers‟ qualification including compulsory industrial
attachment for TVET trainers at least after every three years of service and;

7.8 Financing of TVET

Although expenditure on education and training sector has been on the increase, only 3.2% of the
total allocation goes to TVET and close to 95% of the allocation to TVET goes to recurrent
expenditure. This low budgetary allocation has continued to be a major constraint in the TVET
sector and yet the sector is expected to be a vehicle for rapid industrialization as outlined in
Vision 2030.
Other than Government budgetary allocation, there has been very little technical assistance or
donor support from development partners towards technical education at all levels. It is essential
to examine other sources other than government budget allocations, for mobilising resources and
generating revenue. The challenge remains in empowering institutions to engage in lawful
income generating activities without losing focus on their core mandate.
A partial solution for the challenge of TVET financing is to introduce activities that centre on
linking the services of TVET institutions to the needs of private sector enterprises. In this regard
TVET institutions will be encouraged to partner with the private sector to establish enterprises.
Further, TVET institutions with infrastructure comprising good workshops and laboratories
provide a good platform for this partnership. Additionally,
such enterprises will provide a practice-based curriculum and physical facilities for product
realization and an improved educational experience that emphasizes the interdependency of
learning, design and production in a business environment.
The envisaged expansion of TVET sector also assumes an increased participation by the private
sector in the provision and financing of training, particularly TVET. Efforts need to be made to
remove constraints and facilitate the private sector participation in TVET. In order to make
investment in TVET more attractive to the private sector, the government needs to address the
issue of obsolete training equipment and improve training infrastructure.
To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policies:
(i) Develop creative and innovative ways of mobilising resources and generating revenue for
TVET; (ii) Establish secure and sustainable funding mechanisms for development of TVET
infrastructure and improving equipment.
7.8.1To implement these policies the Government will employ the following strategies;

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(i) Strengthen partnerships with industry for improved access, enhanced quality delivery of
programmes, improved examination and assessment;
(ii) Create and promote an enabling environment for public-private partnerships to enhance
investment and financing of programmes and development initiatives in TVET;
(iii)Enhance funding targeting missing links in the knowledge application value chain;
(iv) Provide operational autonomy to TVET institutions
(v) Enhance a culture of accountability, democracy and transparency in the governance and
management of the institutions;
(vi) Ensure participation in and consultation with all stakeholders at regional and national levels.
(vii) Establish the TVET Funding Board to mobilize and manage the TVET Fund from public
and private sectors.
(viii) Expand the mandate of Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to provide loans, bursaries
and scholarships to students in TVET institutions.
(ix) Determine Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) for grants to TVET institutions.

7.9 Management and Governance of TVET

The TVET institutional management is key in the decision making and transformation process of
the sector. The performance and responsiveness of TVET in Kenya is hampered by ineffective
coordination and synchronisation in the sector since TVET institutions are spread across various
ministries. As the management of TVET institutions aim at effectiveness and efficiency, there
will be need to strengthen and align the governance structures. TVET institutions are managed
under different governance structures including Management Committees; Boards of Governors,
Board of Trustees and Boards of Directors while some have no clearly defined governance
structure. There is no uniformity in the categorization of TVET institutions across the ministries.
There is need to harmonize categorization of institutions, management structures and
appointments of management of institutions across the TVET sector.
Co-ordination mechanisms and linkages between TVET institutions continue to remain a major
challenge. This has resulted into uncoordinated and disjointed quality management process,
fragmentation of TVET institutions delivering uncoordinated curriculum and competence
assessment mechanism.

7.9.1 To address these challenges the Government will adopt the following policy:
Streamline governance and management structures to ensure coordination and synchronization in
TVET sector
To implement this policy the Government will employ the following strategies;
(i) Develop and implement a National TVET strategy
(ii) Establish an agency to coordinate TVET sector
(iii)Provide a framework to accord BoGs and Councils powers to manage TVET institutions.
(iv) Develop the capacity of BoGs to provide effective management of TVET institutions;
(v) Reform Management of TVET Institutions to enhance the culture of good leadership,
accountability, democracy and transparency;
(vi) Ensure that appointment of the BOGs and Council members followsdue process, while
taking into account ethnic and gender balanceand promote inclusion of persons with disability
among others;
(vii) Categorize TVET institutions into VTCs, TCs, TTTC, NPs and Technical Universityand
any other category thatthe cabinet secretary responsible for TVET, may deem necessary

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(viii) Structure the management bodies in TVET institutions as follows:
(a) Vocational Training Centres and Technical Colleges shall be managed under Boards of
Management;
(b) Technical Teachers‟ Training Colleges and National Polytechnics shall be managed by
Councils;
(c) Technical Universities shall be established and managed in accordance with the provisions of
the Universities Act 2012;
(d) Trainers, lecturers and instructors employed by BoMs in TVET Institutions and other staff at
the VTC and TC will be managed by BoMs;
(e) Teachers and lecturers posted to TVET institutions will be managed by TSC ;
(f) Teaching staff at the TTTCs, NPs and TUs will be managed by the respective Councils;
(g) Support staff in TVET institutions will be managed by the respective BoMs and Councils.

Review questions
(i)Outline the objectives of TVET
(ii)Discuss the impact of TVET in higher education.
(iii)Discuss the guiding principles of TVET.

TOPIC NINE; UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

9.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES;
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to;
(i)Examine the objectives of university education
(ii)Discuss the challenges in acquiring university education
(iii)Outline policies and strategies that can be impimented to meet higher education needs
9.1 Introduction
Universityeducation comprises of all that education and training offered in the highest
institutions of learning leading to the award of degrees and post graduate qualifications.The
university sub-sector has witnessed tremendous growth in the last 5 years from 112,229 (68,345
male and 43,884 female) in 2006 to 180,978 (111,050 male and 69,928 female) in 2010. In 2012,
there were a total of 33 universities (7 public and 26 private) and 24 university constituent
colleges. The establishment of new university colleges and campuses has contributed to this
growth and made university education more accessible. In addition, the different pathways
adopted to create opportunities to access higher education have also contributed to this growth.

9.2GOALS
The Goals of the Higher Education Sector:At the National System Level
• To lead and manage a diversified and coordinated system of higher education comprised of
public and private universities, institutes and colleges.
• To meet the learning needs and aspirations of individuals through the development of their
intellectual abilities throughout their lives.
• To address the development needs of the society and provide the labor market in a knowledge
driven and knowledge dependent society, with the changing high level competencies and
expertise necessary for the growth and prosperity of a modern economy. To that end, the
Ministry of Higher Education works on a national needs assessment.

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• To improve the quality of higher education institutions with international standards as long-
term benchmarks.
• To expand access by developing a flexible higher education system consistent with high
quality. Taking into account the law, this might include open and distance education, shift
classes, as well as evening and summer programs.
• To establish an accreditation and quality assurance system to ensure institutional and program
quality, national and regional relevance, as well as international mobility and recognition.
• To provide and enhance research capacity for the advancement of knowledge and for the
application of research activities to technological improvement and social development.
• To provide funding in a sustainable and equitable manner to ensure quality higher education
through the principle of shared costs. To that end the Ministry of Higher Education seeks to
insure that policy changes make it possible for public higher education institutions to be
entrepreneurial, establish foundations, and seek funding from a wide range of entities including
the state, businesses, students where appropriate, donors, product development, and other
sources.
• To incorporate the principle of autonomy in order that institutions may raise and expend
resources and manage the academic enterprise as they deem appropriate. This autonomy is
exercised within the ambit of public accountability to the state, students and other stakeholders.
• To fill the growing gap covered by community colleges in many parts of the world by
developing a community college program for specialized post-secondary education including:
short courses in areas such as science, math, languages, and computer science; mid-level training
in business, professions such as law, pharmacy, medicine, and computer science; opportunities
for those who need introductory university level courses (which might lead to an Associates of
Arts degree); opportunities for life-long learning; and, highly technical training geared to specific
industries or businesses. Course credits would be transferable to universities.
• To develop a credit system for Afghanistan, following the revision of the higher education
curriculum (now underway), which would facilitate transfers between tertiary institutions, allow
students to work and accumulate credits over a number of years, and to rationalize and improve
the comparability of courses across higher education institutions.
At the Institutional Level
• To modernize and transform the institution so that the roles of management, faculty and staff
are clearly delineated and its governance structures function cooperatively and harmoniously.
• To provide relevant and quality academic programs that are responsive to national and regional
needs and are globally competitive.
• To develop a clear system of academic promotions and rewards based on merit and peer review
including evaluation of teaching, research, and service.
• To establish an academic climate where open debate, critical inquiry and constructive critique
are the prevailing norm of institutions.
• To contribute to the creation of enlightened, responsible and constructively critical citizens
with a reflective capacity to review prevailing ideas based on the commitment to the common
good, tolerance and respect.
• To improve the quality of learning and teaching and to ensure that curricula are responsive to
the national and regional context.
• To develop its faculty and staff through further degrees, short courses, exchange visits and the
creation of a culture of continuous learning.
• To create a research culture in the nation’s universities to undertake meaningful and relevant

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research to contribute to an understanding and solution of the myriad problems and challenges
facing the country.
• To develop Master’s and PhD programs at its comprehensive research universities as the
number of qualified faculty members (with appropriate degrees and training) allows or qualified
foreign faculty can be recruited. In this regard, the MoHE envision no more than five or six
universities offering graduate training in the long run.
• To establish partnerships with other higher education institutions in the country, region and
internationally.
• To be socially responsible by interacting with and making the professional expertise and
infrastructure of institutions available to communities and the nation.
• Establishment of a digital library accessible to all faculty, staff, and students.
• National capacity for use and analysis of Higher Education data and indicators.
Vision
The vision for the University sub-sector is to provide globally competitive quality education,
training, and research for sustainable development.
Mission

The mission of university education is to produce graduates who respond to the needs of the
society, upgrading the skills of the existing workforce, developing the community and business
leaders of tomorrow, as well as the ability to start new businesses to employ Kenyans and
contribute to the Country‟s economic well-being, are central to the mission of the university
education system.

9.2.1 Objectives
To realize the stated vision and mission, the objectives of university education are to:
(i) Promote socio-economic development in line with the country’s development agenda;
(ii) Achieve manpower development and skills acquisition;
(iii) Promote the discovery, storage and dissemination of knowledge;
(iv) Encourage research, innovation and application of innovation to developmentand;
(v) Contribute to community service.
9.2.2Principles and Values That Guide University Education
(i) Promotion of quality and relevance;
(ii) Promotion of rights, culture, ethical behaviour, national values and national interests;
(iii) Enhancement of equity and access;
(iv) Promotion ofinclusive, efficient, effective and transparent governance systems and practices
and maintenance of public trust;
(v) Ensuring university sustainability and adoption of best practices in university management
and institutionalization of systems of checks and balances;
(vi) Promotion of private-public partnerships in university education and developmentand;
(vii) Institutionalization of non-discriminatory practices.

The Government's goal is to have sustainable quality university education through the attainment
of the following specific performance targets:
(i) Increase Gross Enrolment Rates (GER) from 3% to 10% (190,000 to 600,000 students) by
2022;
(ii) Attain equity in university education enrolment that reflects national diversity;

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(iii) Enhance student completion rates;
(iv) Improve quality and relevance of learning and research for national development and ;
(v) Attract and retain high caliber human resource.

9.3 Expanding Access and Equity

During the past decade university enrolment has seen a rapid expansion in both public and
private universities. Patterns of access to both public and private universities tend to reflect
increasing regional, gender and socio-economic differentiation in the Country. The existing
inequalities in access to education at lower levels need critical attention as they tend to be
reproduced or exacerbated as one goes up the education ladder. Owing to the challenges
experienced by the poor, the marginalized, and the disadvantaged, the current environment
makes it difficult for such students to participate in university education.
Admissions for self-sponsored undergraduate, as well as all post-graduate students at both public
and private universities are currently handled directly and solely by the individual institutions.
For undergraduates who receive Government scholarships, however, the admission process is
currently coordinated through the Joint Admission Board (JAB), collaboration between public
universities and university colleges. As a result, Government Scholarships are restricted to public
institutions only and are based primarily on performance, with no cognizance of financial need.
Affirmative action measures are however enforced to ensure increased participation by women
and students from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL).
Most secondary school students receive limited and uncoordinated career guidance in their
schools. There is also inadequate information available to the students and at the schools on the
degree programme and career choices. This has resulted in poor university programme choice
and or a mismatch between choice and talents.
9.3.1Challenges To Access And Equity Remain.
These include;

 Inadequate capacity to cater for the growing demand for more places in the universities;
 Mismatch between skills acquired by university graduates and the demands of the
industry;
 An imbalance between the number of students studying science and arts based courses;
 Lack of policies on credit transfers among universities;
 Gender and regional disparities in terms of admissions and in subjects and courses
undertaken;
 Lack of adequate household income as a barrier to students who have qualified and
admitted to university and restriction of Government sponsorship to public universities
only.

9.3.2To address these challenges the Government implements the following policies:
(i) Promote expansion to satisfy the demand for university places of the growing population.
(ii) Provide incentives and create an enabling environment for an increase in the number of
private universities;
(iii) Expand Government student sponsorship to private universities and;
(iv) Ensure that universities enroll and graduate sufficient PhDs.

9.3.3To implement these policies the Government adopts the following strategies:

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(i) Full utilization of space in existing universities and university colleges;
(ii) Expanding open and distance education (ODL)in existing universities by leveraging on ICT
to take advantage of ICT infrastructure within the Country;
(iii) Establishing the Open University of Kenya by 2014.
(iv) Expanding facilities in newly created university colleges.
(v) Embarking on planned development of additional public universities.
(vi) Ensuring that universities graduate an average of 2,400 PhDs to meet the targeted increase of
10% GER, based on the current3,000 total faculty members in Country by 2022. This is
enhanced by establishing of research universities that offer only post-graduate degrees.
(vii) Adhering to the National Qualifications Framework by institutionalizing and harmonizing
pathways into university education for non-direct secondary school leavers, students with
workplace and experiential learning skills and mature entry needs.
(viii) Establishing specialized universities to train undergraduate students only and accelerate
enrolment;
(ix) Ensuring at least 40 per cent enrolmentof female students into science-based university
academic programmes;
(x) Enabling institutions to increase enrolmentof students with special needs through affirmative
action, appropriate out-reach programmes targeting them and through pre-entry programmes;
(xi) Continuing to support the marginalized and the poor to ensure broader participation in
priority programmes;
(xii) Ensuring that students who have received university admission are able to receive tuition
and fees in the form of loans and/or bursaries within 10 years (or by 2022);
(xiii) Formalizing and restructure the Joint Admissions Board to University Joint Admission
Board to include private universitiesand handle the expanded mandate;
(xiv) Government scholarships to be awarded based on a combination of national priority areas,
student performance, student choice of programme and university, and available slots in each
programme at both public and private universities.
(xv) Availing to students and parents information on programme costs, values of scholarships as
well as bursaries to allow them make informed decisions on programme choice.
(xvi) Providing information to students and sponsors selecting university programmes on the top
up required above the face value of the scholarships;
(xvii) Progressively reducing Government scholarships in the next 10 years (2022) to only
Government loans and bursaries;
(xviii) Continuing to pay into a revolving fund based on levels of capitation that were earmarked
for scholarships;
(xix) Requiring students whose tuition and fees exceed the scholarship value of their preferred
programme to top-up the difference;
(xx) Disseminating information on career guidance to students and schools, to promote informed
programme and career choice, especially as relates to employability, job-creation, and student
ability.

9.4 Improving Quality and Relevance

The delivery of this policy objective will involve the appreciation that the focus of quality in
education must of necessity be found in the students admitted, the learning environment created,
the curriculum or programmes adopted and the academic staff in the institution, among other key
ingredients.

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Within this renewed focus, and as universities decide the right balance of courses to offer, there
should be an overarching concern to promote the life chances and employability of graduates as
well as incorporate the needs of industry and national development priorities especially in the
context of the goals delineated in Vision 2030, as part of the curriculum development and review
process. The strong orientation on economic impact, however, does not come at the expense of
social inclusion and equality of opportunity but through an integrated approach. Universities play
a critical role in promoting national cohesion and integration, providing settings where young
people and adults from different racial, ethnic, religious and social groups can come together.
Research is a core activity of universities. Research output forms the foundation of attaining the
national development goals. Universities will be encouraged to increase their research grant
portfolios by attracting increased funding from Government, the private sector, development
partners and international organizations. Research grants will serve as an avenue to not only
meet a part of recurrent expenditure, but will also support facilities development, equipment
purchase, staff development and of course pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
9.4.1Challenges of Quality And Relevance
 Inadequate facilities and appropriate teaching and learning environment;
 inadequate staff;
 Weak collaboration with professional accreditation bodies;
 Lack of external quality assurance in public universities;
 Large class sizes;
 Weak linkage between the competences acquired in some programmes and the demands
of the market;
 Inadequate research funding.

To address these challenges the Government need to implement the following policies:
(i) Restructure and expand the mandate of the Commission for Higher Education to include both
public and private universities.
(ii) Increase capital support to the universities to enhance institutionalization of excellence.
(iii) Improve collaboration between industry, professional bodies and universities in determining
competences of the graduates.
(iv) Provide incentives to the private sector to invest in university education.
(v) Increase the number of graduate researchers capable of fulfilling industrial, commercial,
national needs and increase the opportunities for businesses to expand on their capability for high
technology innovation and growth.
(vi) Institute mechanisms to enhance implementation of national values, cohesion and
integration.
(vii) Increase the level of research funding available to universities.

To implement these policies the Government need to implement the following strategies:
(i) Restructure the Commission for Higher Education to be the Commission for University
Education responsible for accreditation, quality improvement and assurance in university
education.
(ii) Provide financial incentives to universities to strengthen and grow academic programmes that
are in line with national priority and strategic areas.

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(iii) Provide incentives to encourage the growth of the university sector and make it easier for the
best providers of university education service to spread their influence across the system and the
agents of change.
(iv) Ensure that industry and professional bodies take an active strategic leadership role,
consistent with their leadership role in the irrespective industries in ensuring that their needs are
addressed in university curricula.
(v) Universities will not be allowed to mount or admit students to programmes that require
professional accreditation before obtaining the same.
(vi) Provide incentives to the private sector, including corporate and personal tax relief, waiver
on duty on donated equipment, waiver of stamp duty on donated land, among others,to
encourage investment in university education.
(vii) Encourage universities to establish vibrant alumni associations both as a key source of funds
and for advice and advocacy.
(viii) Establish specialized universities to promote and exploit innovative uses of technology.
(ix) Offer a core course that promotes national values, cohesion and integration

9.4 Financing of University Education

University education is expensive and requires huge investments by all partners. The average
spending per student at the university level was 31 times, 6 times, and twice as expensive in
relation to primary, secondary and TVET education, respectively. It indicates that university
education through public universities is particularly expensive to Government and is not
sustainable with current resources. Public universities will, therefore, have to reduce their
dependence on the Government by diversifying their sources of income as well as ensuring more
efficient and cost effective use of institutional resources. They will also be required to establish
comprehensive financial management systems that ensure efficiency in the application of
resources. The Government will also increase the incentives to encourage the growth of private
universities in the Country.
Both private and public universities derive the bulk of their funding from tuition and fees paid by
students directly, or paid on their behalf by Government or other sponsor. Primary sources of
tuition include scholarships, loans and bursaries from Government, as well as household income.
Public universities, as state-owned and funded corporations, have an obligation to the taxpayer to
provide quality and affordable university education. The tuition and fees for Kenya citizens at
public universities, therefore, will be expected to be lower than those of private universities.
Universities must participate more actively in consultancies, especially those from Government,
both as income generation activities, as well as for national development.
The current funding structure for government-sponsored students in public universities is not
based on the unit cost for undergraduate programmes but allocated uniformly per student
enrolled irrespective of the course a student is pursuing. Therefore, the cost per course does not
differentiate between expensive and inexpensive programmes. Furthermore, uniform funding per
student enrolled varies from university to university and this is also insensitive to different unit
costs of the courses offered by the various universities. As a result of applying this uniform unit
cost, public universities with relatively expensive programmes are under-funded as compared to
those with relatively less costly programmes.
There is need for public universities to adopt a Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC). This is defined
as the annual cost of providing a particular degree program per student, taking into account the
staff costs, facility costs and other institutional overhead costs. Each public university will set its

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own DUC based on its own unique circumstances subject to a programme-based maximum
DUC. The maximum DUC will be determined by the Government in consultation with the public
universities. The introduction of DUC in public universities will eliminate the distinction
between the Government-sponsored and self-sponsored students in public universities. As a
result, public universities will need to develop appropriate staff compensation mechanisms and
encourage continued optimum use of university facilities through the provision of services to
students in the evenings and on weekends, with a view to increasing access.
9.4.1 Challenges in financing public universities inadequate budgetary support; inadequate
funds for capital development; lack of programme differentiated unit cost in provision of funds
from Government; inadequate internal income generation by the universities; and system
inefficiencies.
9.4.2 The challenges in financing private universities include: lack of incentives from
Government; students enrolled in private universities do not benefit from Government
sponsorship; and weak financial base for upcoming institutions.
9.4.3 To address these challenges the Government need to adopt the following policies: (i)
Establish lean and efficient management systems and efficient utilization of resources allocated
to universities.
(ii) Provide budgetary support to public universities in direct proportion to the total number of
Full-Time Student Equivalent (FTSE) in each institution;
(iii) Determine the amount of budgetary support per programme based on the strategic
importance of the programme to national development goals and the programmes Differentiated
Unit Cost;
(iv) Extend Government sponsorship to students in private universities;
(v) Diversify sources of funding university education through participation of businesses,
industry and donations or endowments from individuals or philanthropic foundations;
(vi) Encourage higher education institutions to be more ‘entrepreneurial’ in providing their
services and seeking contracts for research and consultancy;
(vii) Encourage university faculty to incorporate students in consultancies, giving the students
exposure and experience that will prove invaluable after graduation;
(viii) Seek consulting teams for major projects through competition among universities and
government institutions as a first step, before considering other avenues of undertaking the same.

9.4.4 To implement these policies the Government need to implement the following strategies:
(i) Provide public universities with budgetary support to meet part of their recurrent costs;
(ii) Make university education at public institutions more affordable to Kenyans by among others
through increased budgetary support to defray part of the student tuition and fees costs;
(iii) Provide low-cost loans to public institutions for capital development;
(iv) Provide conditional low-cost capital development loans to private institutions who agree to
abide by the accountability and equity mandates placed on public institutions;
(v) Encourage public-private-partnerships in funding university education including but not
limited to development of endowments for scholarships, development and shares, providing
naming rights to major sponsors of buildings and other facilities, grants for research and
development;
(vi) Encourage universities to engage in other Income Generating Activities (IGAs) to boost their
revenue base, so long as participation in those activities does not pull resources or detract the
universities from their core business.

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Human Resource in Support of University Education
Deliberate policies must be developed and implemented to ensure adequate quantity and quality
of human resource is available in the universities in order to meet the access, equity, quality and
relevance objectives of this policy.
The human resource challenges faced by the university education sub-sector include: difficulty in
attracting and retaining qualified staff especially PhD holders in all disciplines particularly those
of national priority and necessary for the attainment of Vision 2030; training and retention of
adequate PhD holders; ensuring that universities portray a national outlook, including at top
management level.
In 2012 there are approximately 3,000 faculty members in all universities. To achieve the desired
student-faculty ratio of 1:40, it has been estimated that the number of additional PhDs required
by universities in order to meet the stated GER of 10% (approximately 600,000 students) within
10 years by 2022 universities would collectively need to graduate an average of 2,400 PhDs per
year for the next five years.
One of the main challenges in the attraction and retention of staff to the sub-sector, especially in
the public universities, is the current approach to development and implementation of terms and
conditions of service for academic members of staff. Remuneration scales (for basic salaries and
housing allowances) are established after negotiations between the department responsible for
Education and Training with University Academic Staff Union (UASU), and are subsequently
applied uniformly across all disciplines, and across all public universities. Individual universities
are only able to negotiate directly with their respective union branches on other allowances paid
to staff. The same process applies to all the unions representing the staff in the public
universities.
This approach, however, presents two main problems. First, several disciplines are unable to
neither attract nor retain adequate numbers of faculty members who are able to command
significantly higher salaries in the private sector or in regional and international institutions.
Second, even for those universities who may be able to provide enhanced remuneration scales
paid from their own income generation activities, are prevented from doing so. As a consequence
university councils are unable to develop and implement comprehensive strategies for the
attraction and retention of adequate numbers and quality staff.

In order to address the challenges the Government need to adopt the following policies:
(i) Introduce Discipline Differentiated Remuneration (DDR) for academic members of staff.
(ii) Empower public university councils to determine their own individual terms and conditions
of service for their staff.

To implement these policies, the Government need employ the following strategies:
(i) Establish minimum DDRs for discipline clusters in public universities. The minimum DDRs
will take into consideration the prevailing economic conditions, remuneration from competing
employers and funds available from Government, among others.
(ii) Individual councils after negotiation with their respective unions, and in consultation with the
University Funding Board, will determine the actual terms and conditions of service for their
staff, recognizing an individual university’s ability to pay in cognizance of the minimum DDRs.
(iii) Introduction of a 1,000 Government-funded teaching assistantships annually in both public
and private universities for post-graduate students who would be transited straight from their

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undergraduate studies, allowing these students to attain their PhDs, and serve as teaching
assistants to support the increased enrolment of undergraduates, while gaining valuable training
and hands on experience in teaching and learning.
(iv) Universities will be allocated scholarships in specific programmes, for which all graduating
undergraduates would compete.
(v) Scholarship recipients would be bonded to accept employment in the universities for at least
three years.

Review questions
i)Examine the objectives of university education
(ii)Discuss the challenges in acquiring university education
(iii)Outline policies and strategies that can be impimented to meet higher education needs

TOPIC TEN;GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES

10.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to;
(i)Examine the management of higher education in Kenya
(ii)Discuss the reliability of institutional structures in higher institutions of learning

10.1 Introduction
In developing institutional frameworks, there will be established clarity of roles between the
National and County Governments, Councils, Commissions, providers and regulators, with an
aim to reduce bureaucracy. In this context, the National Government shall be responsible for
education policy, standards and curricula and granting of university charters. The county
governments will provide the supporting infrastructure and an enabling external environment
that promotes teaching and learning.
Universities are currently governed by Chancellors, University Councils and University
Management Boards headed by Vice-Chancellors. In addition, two semi-autonomous
government agencies also support the university sub-sector, the Commission for Higher
Education and Higher Education Loans Board.
The Chancellor in public universities is currently the President of the Republic, who through
delegated authority has appointed Chancellors to act on his behalf.
The challenges with the current structures are mainly within the public universities. These
include: the large number of public universities makes it impractical for the President of the
Republic to remain the Chancellor of all of them; very large university councils and boards of
semi-autonomous government agencies (SAGAs) within the sub-sector; minimal participation in
the appointment of members to council and boards of the SAGAs; lack of broad inclusion in the
membership of the Councils and Board of the SAGAs; lack of an organ to coordinate and raise
additional non-exchequer funds for the development of the university sub-sector.

10.2 To address these challenges the Government need to adopt the following policies:
(i) Streamline the top oversight organs of public universities and university education sub-sector
SAGAs to provide lean, efficient and effective structures as well as to ensure broad inclusion;

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(ii) Establish a SAGA with the responsibility of driving the institutional financial support and
structures for the university education sub sector;
(iii) Define the role and the selection process of the Chancellor in public universities.

To implement these policies, the Government need to implement the following strategies:
(i) Make the Chancellor the titular head of the institution and the custodian of the history,
philosophy, values, objectives and dignity of the university;
(ii) Require the Chancellor to safeguard the foundational objectives of the University;
(iii) Involve the alumni in the election of their preferred candidate from a list of candidates
identified by the Senate for appointment by the President, through the Cabinet Secretary in
public universities;
(iv) Require the respective governing bodies of private universities to appoint Chancellors as
specified in their charters;
(v) Require university councils to have a minimum of seven and a maximum of eleven members,
with a collective balance of competencies for effective governance.
(vi) Stagger the appointment of council members to allow for continuity and maintenance of
institutional memory.
(vii) Require the Cabinet Secretary in charge of university education, to appoint Council
members through a search committee, with criteria as specified in the university charters;
(viii) Take into account gender and ethnic balance as well as inclusion of persons with
disabilities and people from marginalized groups in all appointments;
(ix) Ensure that no single ethnic group exceeds one-third of any council, or one-third of the
council chairpersons taken as a group;
(x) Ensure that no single gender exceeds two-thirds of any council, and two-thirds of the
council chairpersons taken as a group.
(xi) Restructure the Commission of Higher Education to be the Commissionof University
Education (CUE) with the mandate of regulating the university education sub-sector.
(xii) Provide guidelines for appointment and promotion of academic staff such as tutorial fellow,
lecturer, senior lecturer, associate professor, and professor in all universities in order to ensure
harmonization of professional designations
(xiii) Establish the Universities Funding Board (UFB) with the responsibility of providing capital
grants, loans and budgetary support to public universities and conditional low cost loans to
private universities.
(xiv) Require UFB to formulate mechanisms to determine the financial needs of each public
institution for allocation of capital development grants, concessionary loans and budgetary
support in consultation with the universities, the department charged with university education
and the Treasury;
(xv) Require UFB to establish maximum programme Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC), and
minimum Discipline Differentiated Remunerations (DDR), in close consultation with the public
universities;
(xvi) Empower UFB to mobilize additional financial resources to achieve its mandate, including
and not limited to endowment funds, raffles and higher education bonds;
(xvii) Competitively recruit the chairpersons and all members of UFB and CUE Boards through
an independent search committee, to be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary in-charge of
university education;

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(xviii) Ensure that recruitment takes into account ethnic balance, where no single ethnic group
exceeds one-third of the Boards.
(xix) Ensure that recruitment takes into account gender balance, where no single gender exceeds
two-thirds of the Boards.

10.3 Current Situation

Currently, there exists divergence in TIVET curricula in various Technical and Vocational
Training Institutions in Kenya. Fragmented curriculum development, training, assessment and
certification of TIVET have made it difficult for prospective employers to determine the
comparative value of qualifications from centralized and decentralized systems. In addition, the
TIVET programme has other challenges such as:
(i) Inflexible and outdated TEP curricula
(ii) Mismatch between skills learnt and skills demanded by modern industries
(iii) Inadequate mechanisms for quality assurance
(iv) Inadequate physical facilities for training, coupled with lack of sufficient modern equipment
(v) Inadequate and expensive training materials and textbooks
(vi) Low participation of the industry and private sector in curriculum design and development,
training and assessment of skills.

10.3.1Recommendations
The framework is expected to provide the platform for harmonization and rationalization of
TIVET curricula, examinations, testing and certification. There is need to review and develop the
curriculum that addresses the emerging needs of our society in order to enable the learners to
acquire and develop the desired knowledge, skills, values and attitudes for life in the emerging
knowledge society. In addition, it will enable the government attain the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), industrialization by the year 2020 and the Kenya Vision 2030, in
which TIVET has been identified as critical in realizing its economic, social and political pillars.
In order to achieve this objective, the TIVET Curriculum Framework should be shared and
owned by all stakeholders to enhance implementation. Further to this, the Task Force
recommends the following:
(a) Provide vertical and lateral curriculum overlaps to facilitate credit points transfer between
successive training levels and from one programme to another.
(b) Introduce adequate, relevant contents and curriculum delivery modes to cater for new and
emerging job performance trends as well as modern planning and quality management best
practices.
(c) Integrate ICT driven industrial processes and technologies in the trade contents on national
production systems.
(d) Adopt a broadly scoped, units driven, competences based modular curriculum design model
to achieve multi-skill training programmes, flexible attendance, self-paced learning and
alternative routes of progression via the course modules formulation.
(e) Adopt an appropriate mechanism for syllabus development that makes testing flexible and
responsive to the current trends in the skilled labour market.
(f) Increase the general academic component of the curriculum to cater for the life skills and
knowledge of citizens.
(g) Develop programmes on pedagogy and andragogy to satisfy demand for TIVET trainers.

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(h) Design a flexible technical teacher education curriculum that allows skilled persons with
valuable experience as trainers or part-time instructors to be considered for credit transfer when
they enrol for teacher training or pedagogy.
(i) Training programmes be designed on the basis of five broad areas, namely:
 Science, engineering and technology
 Applied sciences
 Business management
 Hospitality management
 Entrepreneurship and innovation.
10.4 University
Currently, universities develop and implement their own curricula in the disciplines they offer.
The Commission for Higher Education (CHE) oversees the curricula and programmes offered at
private universities.
10.4.1Recommendations
(i) Universities should develop their curricula and programmes based on the curricula offered at
the Basic Education cycle.
(ii) CHE should undertake to quality assure the programmes offered at all Universities in the
country.
(iii) Fast track the passage of proposed TIVET Bills to oversee the national skills and
competences training programmes
(iv) Encourage high academic achievers with talents to pursue TIVET courses to promote high
standards in the institutions.
(v) Establish mechanisms for linkages and credit transfers to attract students of high calibre in
TIVET courses, facilitate horizontal and vertical mobility to sustain high standards and quality in
skills and competences in various programmes.
10.4.2Issues and Challenges at university level
(a) Each university is established by an independent Act of Parliament. Issues of standards and
quality are not harmonized across the board.
(b) The Commission of Higher Education (CHE) is mandated to regulate higher education hence
standards and quality in universities. However, CHE pays more attention to standards and quality
in private universities.
(c) There is lack of clear mechanisms for consultation and collaboration to harmonize issues of
standards and quality.
(d) There is lack of a harmonized programme to train lecturers in pedagogy, a situation that does
not guarantee well coordinated standards and quality in university education.
(e) The increased demand for university education has resulted in overcrowding in lecture rooms
– affecting lecturer/student ration, standards and quality.
(f) The high number of students has put pressure on existing infrastructure and instructional
equipment.
(g) Low funding has affected development of additional infrastructure and equipment to match
the increased demand.

10.4.3Major findings and issues from cluster hearings, submissions and literature review
(a) There is a mismatch between what universities teach and the demands of industries in both
standards and skills.

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(b) Public and private universities have become much commercialized thus compromising
standards and quality.
(c) The parallel degree programmes in most public universities, while opening more places for
students who qualify, have overstretched the capability for the available lecturers to effectively
and competently deliver on the teaching/learning programmes.
(d) There is a lot of part-time teaching in universities due to shortage of university lecturers and
tutors in the country, thus compromising standards and quality of education.
(e) Views were expressed that there was a general drop of standards and quality in degrees
offered in both public and private universities.

10.4.4Recommendations
(a) Restructure and mandate the Commission of Higher Education to be the national standards
and quality agency for all universities (Public and Private) education and training.
(b) Enhance standards and quality mechanisms in university education and training through
CHE.
(c) Lecturers and tutors should receive training and skills to ensure standard and quality delivery
of curricula.
(d) Design an enhanced programme to produce more lecturers and tutors to meet the demand if
universities are to produce highly rating and quality graduates.
(e) Internship and attachment should be integrated into the training system to enhance standards,
quality and relevance to meet market and industry needs.
(f) Introduce a programme to equip lecturers in higher institutions of learning with strong
communication skills to facilitate delivery of curriculum content.

Review questions
(i)Examine the management of higher education in Kenya
(ii)Discuss the reliability of institutional structures in higher institutions of learning

TOPIC ELEVEN; Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)

11.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to;
(i)Discuss ways of mobilizing required resources for higher education
(ii)Discuss principles and practices of financial allocation to higher education
(iii) Examine strategies for improving higher education financing

11.1 INTRODUCTION
The Higher Education Loans Board was established by the Higher Education Loans Board
Act, of 1995. It came into existence on the 21st day of July 1995 through Kenya Gazette
Supplement (Cap 213A). The Board derives its functions from the Act and includes

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disbursement of loans and bursaries and scholarships to university students in public and
private universities .Its mandate has since been expanded to award loans and bursaries to
Kenyan students’ in public TIVET institutions and in universities within the East African
Community member states.

11.2 Commission for Higher Education (CHE)

The Commission for Higher Education (CHE) came into existence in 1985 following the
need to regulate, coordinate and assure quality in higher education as a result of growth
and expansion of the university sub sector in Kenya. The Commission was established
by an Act of Parliament (Universities Act Chapter 210B), as a body corporate to make
better provisions for the advancement of quality university education in Kenya.
The mandate of the Commission is to ensure the maintenance of standards, quality and
relevance in all aspects of university education, training and research. The Commission
mainstreams quality assurance practices in higher education and encourages continuous
improvement in the management of the quality of university education. This is mainly
accomplished through a peer process of audits and reviews. Through these processes, a
total of 11 universities have been awarded charters, 9 granted Letters of Interim Authority
and 4 with certificate of registration.
The Commission continues to receive applications from sponsors intending to establish
private universities in Kenya. Both public and private universities remain autonomous,
self-governing institutions responsible for the standards and quality of their academic
awards and programmes. Individual universities have institutionalized internal procedures
for attainment of appropriate standards for ensuring and enhancing the quality of the
education provided.
11.3 Higher Education Finance and Accessibility:
Higher education at the beginning of the 21st century has never been in greater demand, both
from individual students and their families, for the occupational and social status and greater
earnings it is presumed to convey, as well as from governments for the public benefits it is
presumed to bring to the social, cultural, political and economic well-being of countries.
Nowhere is this demand more compelling, but with indicators of success more elusive, than in
the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, beset with fragile economies and democracies and
struggling to maintain higher educational quality amid conditions of financial austerity and a
relentlessly increasing tide of student demand.
The fundamental financial problems faced by institutions of higher education are worldwide and
stem from two nearly universal forces. The first of these is the high and increasing unit, or per-
student, cost of higher education. This can be attributed to a historically-entrenched, tertiary
education production funct resistant to labor-saving technology. The second force greatly
exacerbating the financial problems of tertiary educational institutions and ministries in many
countries is the pressure for increasing enrollments, particularly where high birth rates are
coupled with rapidly increasing proportions of youth finishing secondary school with legitimate
aspirations for some tertiary education. And again, nowhere in the world are these exacerbating,
or magnifying, conditions more prevalent than in Sub-Saharan Africa. Because tertiary education
in most countries, at least in the last century, has been largely dependent on governments, or
taxpayers, for the revenue to meet these high and rising costs, the increasing technical difficulties
of taxation itself plus the pressure of competing public needs (many of which may be far more
socially and/or politically compelling, particularly on their respective margins, than the claims of

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higher education) has plunged tertiary educational institutions and ministries in most countries—
even those that are industrialized and wealthy—into conditions of financial austerity. When these
cost pressures are not met with commensurately increasing revenues—which is increasingly the
case everywhere in the world
and especially so in the countries of Sub Saharan Africa—the result is less apt to be increased
efficiency and productivity and more apt to be some combination of: (a) diminished quality of
the output (i.e. of teaching, scholarship, and service); (b) diminished working and living
conditions for professors, staff, and students alike; and/or (c) constrained capacity and the
consequent extreme rationing of places—and thus the denial of opportunities to students who
may be qualified but who lack the secondary school academic preparation or the financial means
to “buy into” an available place .
In most of Africa, the combination of flat or even declining economies (brought on in part by the
worsening terms of trade for the less-industrialized world), burgeoning populations (especially
those
seeking tertiary educational experiences), political and social instability and conflict, and
oppressive debts have all contributed to the extreme financial austerity of, as well as a
consequent diminishing accessibility to, African tertiary education. The reform agenda for
African tertiary education thus includes the need for expanding other-than governmental, or tax-
generated, revenue as well as measures to lessen the current financial barriers to tertiary
education participation for children of the poor, of those in rural or remote areas, or of ethnic or
linguistic minorities
11.4 COST SHARING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Cost-sharing is generally thought of as the introduction of, or especially sharp increase in, tuition
fees to cover part of the costs of instruction, or of user charges to cover more of the costs of
lodging, food and other expenses of student living that may have hitherto been born substantially
by governments (taxpayers) or institutions. However, there are many other possible forms, or
what may usefully be thought of as stages, of cost sharing .Such measures could include the
introduction of small, non-instructional fees, the freezing or diminution of student support grants
(especially in an inflationary economy), the channeling (sometimes with some governmental
resources) of more students into a tuition-dependent private sector, or in the few countries that
have introduced significant loan programs, an improvement in recovery rates (i.e. a lessening of
needed public
subsidies) via an increase in the rate of interest or an improvement in collections. Other forms or
stages of cost-sharing have potentially greater fiscal impact, but may still be more politically
acceptable than the introduction of across-the-board, up-front tuition fees for all students.

The introduction of so-called dual track, or parallel (as in Uganda and Kenya) tuition fees, in
which students who are not academically accepted into the small and selective pool of fully
state-supported slots may still be admitted for a fee, maintains a kind of fiction of free higher
education even though most young people, even if academically qualified, will never enjoy it.
Still another form, developed and popularized by Australia and adopted by New Zealand and
Scotland, and “on the table” in 2003 for the rest of the UK, is a tuition fee that is deferrable for
all or most students—as an income contingent loan to be repaid only after the student borrower is
employed and earning a salary Cost-side measures remain important in spite of the fact that the
lowest-hanging fruits of productivity enhancements have in most instances been adopted long
ago.

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However, placing all of the hoped-for solutions on the revenue side--and primarily on variations
of cost-sharing--is almost certainly untenable politically. Thus, revenue-side solutions, especially
those that entail a shift of costs to parents and/or students, in most instances must be
accompanied by an appreciation on the part of politicians, students, and the general public that
university faculty and staff and their related governmental bureaucracies are also bearing some
pain and shifting established modes of behavior. It is strange to Americans, who are acculturated
to the notion that a tuition fee is a financial responsibility of parents, at least to the extent of their
financial means, that British students, who have long professed to dislike.

The most direct and financially remunerative forms of cost-sharing but also more politically
Contested include the introduction of tuition fees where they did not heretofore exist, the great
increase in tuition fees (i.e. in excess of the rate of increase of the underlying per-student costs of
instruction) where they have already been established, and the introduction of full user charges,
or fees, on what may have hitherto been heavily subsidized lodging and food.The rationale for
cost-sharing has been the subject of a large and well-accepted (even if politically and
ideologically contested) body of economic and public finance theory. Suffice to note here that
the most compelling case for cost sharing in developing countries may rely less on the familiar
neo-liberal economist's presumptions of theoretically superior efficiency and equity (as valid as
these presumptions may be), but on the much simpler to grasp and much less controversial sheer
need for alternative (i.e. non-governmental) revenue.

This need, in turn, emerges from the enormous scarcity of tax revenues as well as the long and
compelling queue of competing public needs. Simply put, the economic, political, and social
imperatives for a great expansion in the capacity of tertiary education systems—especially in low
income countries that currently have very small portions of young adults enrolling in any sort of
post-compulsory studies—is so far in excess of any conceivable additional public revenue likely
to be devoted to higher education that alternative, non-governmental revenue sources must be
found. And by most policy calculations, a substantial portion of this nongovernmental
revenue is going to have to come from parents and students in the form either (or both) of
tuition as well as of user fees for some of the currently free or heavily subsidized student housing
and food. Most of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa have resisted up-front tuition fees, which
is the most direct and fiscally significant form of higher educational cost-sharing. This resistance
may stem from two, mainly historical, features of Sub-Saharan Africa. The first is the European
colonial legacy and the fact that the continent of Europe—on which most of Africa’s classical
universities are modeled—still remains the world’s last bastion of free higher education. Even
though this European tradition is under tremendous pressure and has been slowly giving way to
encroaching tuition fees (as in the UK and to a lesser extent in the Netherlands, Portugal, and
most recently Austria), the European political and cultural resistance to tuition fees is powerful.

Thus, to African politicians and powerful student unions faced with prospect of charging or
paying for something that may once have been free of charge (at least for a few fortunate
families and students), the fact that most European governments, with far wealthier families and
far better employment prospects for students, continue to resist tuition fees gives credence to the
belief (or

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hope) that higher education can somehow continue to be free. The other historic root of this
resistance to fees has been the legacy in much of Sub-Saharan Africa of Marxist ideologies and
the corresponding view that governments have—or at least ought to have—the financial
wherewithal to provide all of education (as well as all of health care, pensions, and most other
social services) free of charge. Politicians and students who are wedded to notions of
entitlements and who view all of education as essentially a public good (and encouraged in this
observation when they view other governmental expenditures that seem blatantly wasteful or
corrupt) are not easily dissuaded.
What many people in the industrialized West view as insurmountable resistance to taxation and
serious constraints upon deficit financing continue to be viewed by those of a more Marxist
persuasion as mere political decisions to not tax—and therefore an untenable decision to deny to
the poor the benefits of what once was free to all. At the institutional level, small fees are being
introduced, food services are being required to be self-supporting, fees are being charged for
evening or summer or other “special” courses and programs, and facilities and equipment is
being offered for rent. At the governmental or ministerial level, where the problem is less
institutional austerity than it is the sheer lack of capacity, private, tuition-supported alternatives
are being allowed, encouraged, and even in some cases partially subsidized (such as students
being eligible for loans at private institutions).

Less aggressively (and somewhat less successfully financially), other East African universities in
Kenya , Tanzania , and Ethiopia have also turned to variations on the theme of dual track tuition,
opening their doors to students whose examination scores fall below the “cut off” for the highly
selective tuition fee-free slots, but who are still able to do university-level work—and whose
parents can and will gladly pay. (A slightly different kind of dual track fee policy has been
adopted in Nigeria, where the politically visible and volatile national universities have been kept
tuition-free, while the regional state universities have been allowed to charge tuitions . By most
measures of success, including increased wages, better retention of faculty, and much needed
infrastructure and technology, these dual track policies have been successful. At the same time,
at least in theory, there are the following limitations to such policies: They tend to reinforce (or
at least fail to provide any forthright alternative to) the underlying ideology of entitlement that
continues to reject the very notion of cost-sharing—even though senior policy makers in most of
these countries know that many parents are, in fact, already paying significant tuition fees
through the fee-paying tracks as well as even greater fees to the growing numbers of private
institutions.
11.5COST-SHARING AND STUDENT LOANS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Student loans, or any other sort of deferred payment plans (including all forms of income
contingent and graduate tax schemes, regardless of what they may be called,5 as well as more
conventional, scheduled repayment forms), have been on the agenda of higher educational policy
reforms for decades, including those directed at the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. In theory, a
student loan program combines the financial imperative of taxpayer revenue supplementation
with the social and political imperative of expanding higher educational accessibility. At the core
of the student loan concept is the belief that students who will benefit so much from the
privilege of higher education can reasonably be expected to make a modest contribution toward
its considerable costs. And student loans make a contribution toward equity by insulating this
contribution from both the affluence and the attitudes of their parents. Government-sponsored

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student loan schemes are in place in some countries around the world. Objectives of students
loan schemes include;
1) Revenue diversification or income generation;
(2)University system expansion;
(3) Equity or the targeted enhancement of participation by the poor;
(4)Specialized manpower needs;
(5)The financial benefit of students generally, expressing their greater time preference for
present money.

At the same time, student loans programs around the world have compiled an impressive record
of failures, including notable African examples in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria (with a number of
newer and lesser known programs such as those in Tanzania and Burkina Faso also looking like
failures, at least on the criterion of cost recovery). At the present time, only the South African
loan program appears to be successful—with success defined as the twofold ability to (1) expand
accessibility by putting critical funds into the hands of students, and (2) generate a cost recovery
that shifts some of the costs of this financial assistance to the students themselves. (The
revitalized and supposedly reformed loans programs in Ghana and Kenya are promising,
although somewhat less than successful as of 2003.)

Excessive subsidization
The essential failure of these student loan programs can generally be attributed to one or both of
two factors:
(1) excessive built-in subsidization,
(2) insufficient and/or overly costly collection.
Student loan programs are frequently doomed to fiscal failure by a built-in taxpayer subsidy that
would fail to generate a sufficient cost recover regardless of the successful execution (e.g. as
signaled by low defaults) of the loan plan. These interest subsidies may be in the form of a zero
rate of interest during the in-school years or the so-called grace period before the first payments
are even expected, or simply of an interest rate that is far below the cost of money to the lender
(generally the government). Such a built-in interest subsidy is especially stark in cases where the
contractual rate of interest is both low and fixed, and where the country’s economy is
experiencing considerable inflation— which taken together considerably erode the present value
of all future payments. However, there is even a not-inconsiderable built-in subsidy in the
increasingly popular student loan programs that set the rate of interest to vary each year
according to the prevailing rate of inflation, effectively recovering (assuming no defaults or other
losses) exactly what was lent or borrowed in real, or inflation-adjusted, terms (i.e. a zero real rate
of interest). Indeed, insofar as cost recovery was a major goal of early student loans programs
Kenya’s former University Students Loan Scheme (1974/75 to 1994/95) at 2 percent interest or
the current “reformed” Higher Education Loans program (1995/96 to the present) at 4 percent
(Oketch 2003) or Ghana’s current (summer 2003) SSNIT Student Loan Scheme limiting the
borrower’s rate to 3 percent (Ghana Website, Nortey 2002) had no chance of complete or near-
complete cost recovery even with no defaults. Depending on the prevailing rates of inflation—
quite high in both countries in many of these years—these interest rates represent considerable
public subsidies, especially when the disbursements of loans are extensive.
The cost-effectiveness of this sort of built-in loan subsidy depends not just on the spread between
the cost of money and the ultimate recovery rate, but on the degree to which a particular level of

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subsidy is necessary to get the desired level of student participation. Arguably, some subsidy is
always necessary, or at least politically expedient; there are virtually no examples of generally
available student loan programs in any country where there is no governmental subsidy
whatsoever.

However, there is clearly a fiscal trade off among (a) outright grants or bursaries, (b) the
effective grants represented by the loan subsidies, and (c) the tuition fee itself, and there should,
at least in theory, be some combination of levels that is most cost-effective for the aims of the
government.
The most interesting African case in point concerning built in subsidies is the South African loan
bursary feature that forgives up to forty percent of the final accumulated loan indebtedness for
the successful passage of 100 percent of the courses. Clearly, this repayment forgiveness
seriously erodes the stream of repayments and requires higher levels of new govern-mental loan
capital into the program than would be otherwise necessary. At the same time, this is less a built-
in feature of the loan program itself than it is a planned form of academic performance bursary,
with its own goals, that just happens to be attached to the loan program for convenience. At any
rate, this is a clearly deliberate expenditure via a student loan repayment forgiveness feature, and
as such should not be taken to detract from the fiscal success of the South African student loan
program itself.A particular disadvantage to highly subsidized loans in developing countries is the
consequent need to ration the loans (that is, to ration the subsidies) via a means test—which
returns us to the first of the socalled technical problems that need to be addressed in the
implementation of cost-sharing in higher education. Because of the above-mentioned difficulties
in means testing in situations in which family incomes are not likely to be known or easily
verified, a minimally subsidized student loan is not only less costly to the government or
taxpayer (allowing other higher-priority public expenditures to be made), but it also requires less
costly verification of the entitlement to the loan. (Expressed another way, aminimally subsidized
loan reduces both the needless lending and also the effective opportunity cost of whatever
unnecessary lending might remain.)

The failure to collect

The second reason for the many student loan program failures is poor execution, especially the
failure to collect repayments. Student loans are difficult to recover in the best of circumstances,
even from guarantors or co-signatories. Students frequently face prolonged periods of
unemployment following their departure from the university (in spite of all the talk and all the
theory about high private returns to higher education). They move around, return to studies, and
may go out of the country for long periods. They may not understand the need to maintain a
good credit rating. Indeed the very notion of credit may be foreign to them, and they may well
not have truly understood that the money they received was to be repaid—with some adverse
consequences if they did not.
Furthermore, student loans are expensive to collect, partly because of the need to maintain
current records and frequently to “chase after” the borrowers, but also because the amounts are
generally small to begin with, making the administrative and servicing costs, even if done
professionally and with good technology, expensive on a per-dollar-of-loan basis. When these
conditions are considered in with little culture of credit, uneven postal and telephone services,
generally inefficient governmental bureaucracies, and unevenly enforced official machinery for

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keeping track of people (such as taxpayer or pension contribution numbers required of all
employees)

It is little wonder that regular repayments are the exception and that borrowers are frequently
lost altogether to the systems. A possible solution to this problem is to have the loan repayments
collected by the employer at the point of wage or salary payment—just as employers are
expected to collect pension contributions or withhold income taxes. Such mandatory employer
collection does not have to be associated with the so-called income contingent loans, where the
repayment due is defined as a percentage of earnings and is usually expected to be withheld
(collected) by the employer along with mandatory income tax withholding and pension
contributions. In fact, fully income continent loans may be problematic where earning streams
may be multiple, frequently informal, and often unreported and essentially untraceable. But if the
repayment due is on a fixed schedule, or if the income contingent repayment is independently
calculated (i.e. based other than on a single wage or salary stream), an employer (it need not be
the sole employer) can still remove the loan repayment automatically, inexpensively, and in a
way that is difficult to evade.
Financial Aids Scheme give authority to compel employers to withhold student loan
repayments owed from employees
whose payments are in serious arrears, regardless of whether the repayment has been calculated
on an income contingent or on some other basis .Similarly, the restarted and reformed Kenyan
Higher Education Loans Board can instruct any employer to deduct from wages an amount due
on a student loan—including the student loans dating as far back as the 1950s that were
essentially forgotten, both by the borrowers and by the government .

11.6 TUITION FEES AND STUDENT LOANS

Although great variation occurs within the higher educational financing schemes and although
even descriptive—not to mention genuinely analytical and evaluative—information is uneven at
best, the following conclusions are offered in the search for Things that Work in the financing of
higher education ;
1.Universities and other tertiary level institutions need to supplement their limited
governmental, or taxpayer, revenues with revenues from parents and students.
2. These revenues should take the form both of user charges for governmentally- or
institutionally provided lodging and food and of tuition fees to cover a portion (say, one-quarter)
of institutional
costs of instruction.
3. Given the inevitable political resistance to cost-sharing, a multi-year progression of stages
should be presented, with further shifts of costs on to parents and students clearly supplemental
to governmental funding, and tied as much as possible to:
(a) improvements in the quality of higher education,
(b) expansion of opportunities and enrollments, and
(c) extension of participation and accessibility to
hitherto under-served populations.
4. Universities must actively and transparently continue seek efficiencies (even at some
disaccommodation and pain) that minimize the per-student costs of instruction without
jeopardizing quality.

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5. The imposition of a tuition fee should be accompanied by a program of means-tested grants,
drawing on clearly identifiable and verifiable characteristics (i.e. proxies for income) such as
parental occupation and educational levels, prior schooling, and type of housing.
6. A single-track, up-front tuition fee (albeit one that can vary by institution and/or by program)
is preferable to a dual track system that rations a small number of tuition free places according to
measured academic preparedness—and thus inevitably rations according to the social class of the
aspiring students.
7. Politically-acceptable language and euphemisms for tuition fees such as “contributions” may
be necessary, but should not have the effect of substituting a larger (albeit deferred) contribution
from students for an up-front contribution (a tuition fee) expected from parents (to the limit of
their financial abilities to pay). Similarly, an expected student contribution via a student loan
program (income contingent or otherwise) is probably a good step, and it may be a way to
accommodate an up-front tuition for some students. But it should not be adopted as a wholesale
substitute for an upfront tuition to be collected wherever possible from parents or extended
families.
8. The setting of tuition fees should be as depoliticized as possible. Countries should consider an
independent (albeit politically accountable) board, buffered from both the government and the
universities and other tertiary institutions, to establish the base year tuition fee[s] and also to
establish annual increases thereof.
9. A student loan program should be designed to collect (according to the present value of the
reasonably-expected repayments discounted at the government’s borrowing rate) something
reasonably close to the amounts lent—less losses from defaults and other purposefully designed
subsidies or repayment forgiveness features.
10. Student loan program must be equipped with legal authority to collect, technology to
maintain accurate records, collectors who can track borrowers and verify financial conditions,
advisors and repayment counselors in the universities, and the ability to enlist both the
government’s tax-collecting authority and employers in the collection of repayments.
11. An income contingent repayment mode should not be employed unless incomes can be
reasonable verified. If income contingency is politically necessary, it should not be the “default”
repayment obligation, but rather an optional means of payment that requires the borrower to
demonstrate that he/she can discharge the repayments by paying a percentage of earnings from a
single employer that represents the a dominant earnings stream.
12. Mechanisms need to be added to the repayment process, especially if the repayment mode is
a conventional, fixed schedule mode, to accommodate borrowers whose earnings are low, either
temporarily or permanently. In short, a conventional loan needs the same kind of genuine low
earnings protection that is presumed to follow by definition from an income contingent form of
repayment obligation.
13. A loan program needs to have a collection agency that is viewed as professional,
incorruptible and technically expert. Universities and other eligible tertiary level institutions
must be enlisted as partners in the program, especially in impressing upon the student recipients
that loans are a legally enforceable obligations that must not be taken lightly or used in excess,
and in keeping track of the borrower’s whereabouts, at least during the in-school years.

Equity
Given the inherent inequalities that exist in any society including the Ministry has to ensure
equal and fair opportunities for all those who are eligible to enter the higher education system. In

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particular, emphasis will be placed on poor students with potential, the physically challenged,
rural people, gender equity, and others who have been particularly disadvantaged in the past..
This may include, among other measures, corrective action (affirmative action) and measures of
empowerment such as remedial tuition, financial aid and counseling services. Each institution
should develop its own equity policy and provide annual reports to this effect. The Ministry of
Higher Education monitors progress and provide institutions with a forum to discuss progress,
challenges, constraints and share best practice.

Review questions

(i)Discuss ways of mobilizing required resources for higher education

(ii)Discuss principles and practices of financial allocation to higher education
(iii) Examine strategies for improving higher education financing

TOPIC TWELVE; PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD PRACTICE IN HIGHER LEARNING

STUDENTS
12.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic the learner should be able to;
(i)Discuss principles for good practice in higher learning students
(ii)Explain the forces of principles of good practice in higher learning students.
(iii)Discuss the quality of research in higher education
12.1 Principles for good practice
1. Good Practice Encourages Student-Faculty Contact
Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student
motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on
working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and
encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.
2. Good Practice Encourages Cooperation among Students
Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like
good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often
increases involvement in learning. Sharing one's own ideas and responding to others' reactions
improves thinking and deepens
understanding.
3. Good Practice Encourages Active Learning
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to
teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about
what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily
lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.
4. Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback
Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback
on performance to benefit from courses. In getting started, students need help in assessing
existing knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform
and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during college, and at the end,

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students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and
how to assess themselves.
5. Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task
Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one's
time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective
time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and
effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty,
administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis for high performance for all.
6. Good Practice Communicates High Expectations
Expect more and you will get it. High Expectations are important for everyone - for the poorly
prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated.
Expecting students to perform well becomes a selffulfilling prophecy when teachers and
institutions hold high expectations of themselves and make extra
efforts.
7. Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college.
Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in
hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their
talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learning in new ways
that do not come so easily. Apathetic students, illiterate graduates, incompetent teaching,
impersonal campuses - so rolls the drum fire of criticism of higher education. More than two
years of reports have spelled out the problems. States have been quick to respond by holding out
carrots and beating with sticks. There are neither enough carrots nor enough sticks to improve
undergraduate education without the commitment and action of students and faculty members.
They are the precious resources on whom the improvement of undergraduate education depends.
But how can students and faculty members improve undergraduate education? Many campuses
around the country are asking this question. To provide a focus for their work, we offer seven
principles based on research on good teaching
and learning in colleges and universities.

12.2 A Focus for Improvement

These seven principles are not ten commandments shrunk to a twentieth century attention span.
They are intended as guidelines for faculty members, students, and administrators - with support
from state agencies and trustees - to improve teaching and learning. These principles seem like
good common sense, and they are - because many teachers and students have experienced them
and because research supports them.
They rest on 50 years of research on the way teachers teach and students learn, how students
work and play with one another, and how students and faculty talk to each other.
While each practice can stand on its own, when all are present, their effects multiply. Together,
they employ six powerful forces in education:
Activity
Diversity
Interaction
Cooperation
Expectations
Responsibility

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Good practices hold as much meaning for professional programs as for the liberal arts. They
work for many different kinds of students - white, black, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor, older,
younger, male, female, well prepared under prepared. But the ways different institutions
implement good practice depends very much on their students and their circumstances. In what
follows, we describe several different approaches to good practice that have been used in
different kinds of settings in the last few years. In addition, the powerful implications of these
principles for the way states fund and govern higher education and for the way institutions are
run are discussed briefly at the end. As faculty members, academic administrators, and student
personnel staff, we have spent most of our working lives trying to understand our students, our
colleagues, our institutions, and ourselves. We have conducted research on higher education with
dedicated colleagues in a wide range of schools in this country. We draw the implications of this
research for practice, hoping to help us all do better.
We address the teacher's how, not the subject-matter what, of good practice in higher education.
We recognize that content and pedagogy are present, their effects multiply. Together, they
employ six powerful forces in education: Activity Diversity Interaction Cooperation
Expectations Responsibility Good practices hold as much meaning for professional programs as
for the liberal arts. They work for many different kinds of students - white, black, Hispanic,
Asian, rich, poor, older, younger, male, female, well prepared, under prepared.

1. Encourages Student-Faculty Contact

Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student
motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on
working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and
encourages them to think about their own values and future plans. Some examples: Freshmen
seminars on important topics, taught by senior faculty members, establish an early connection
between students and faculty in many colleges and universities student peer, and two
"community resource" faculty members. This group then provides support and assures quality.
2. Encourages Cooperation
Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like
good work, iscollaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often
increases involvement in learning. Sharing one's own ideas and responding to others' reactions
sharpens thinking and deepens understanding Some examples: Even in large lecture classes,
students can learn from one another. Learning groups are a common practice. Students are
assigned to a group of five to seven other students who meet regularly during class throughout
the term to solve problems set by the instructor. Many colleges use peer tutors for students who
need special help. Learning communities are another popular way of getting students to work
together.
3. Encourages Active Learning
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in classes listening to
teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about
what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to their daily lives.
They must make what they learn part of themselves.
Some examples: Active learning is encouraged in classes that use structured exercises,
challenging discussions, team projects, and peer critiques. Active learning can also occur outside
the classroom. There are thousands of internships, independent study opportunities, and

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cooperative job programs across the country in all kinds of colleges and universities, in all kinds
of fields, for all kinds of students. Students also
can help design and teach courses or parts of courses.
4. Gives Prompt Feedback
Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback
on performance to benefit from courses. When getting started, students need help in assessing
existing knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform
and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during college, and at the end,
students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and
how to assess themselves. Some examples: No feedback can occur without assessment. But
assessment without timely feedback contributes little to learning. Colleges assess students as
they enter in order to guide them in planning their studies. In addition to the feedback they
receive from course instructors, students in many colleges and universities receive counseling
periodically on their progress and future plans.
5. Emphasizes Time on Task
Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one's
time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective
time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and
effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty,
administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis for high performance for all.
Some examples- Mastery learning, contract learning, and computer assisted instruction require
that students spend adequate amounts of time on learning. Extended periods of preparation for
college also give students more time on task. . Providing students with opportunities to integrate
their studies into the rest of their lives helps them use time well.
Workshops, intensive residential programs, combinations of televised instruction,
correspondence study, and learning centers are all being used in a variety of institutions,
especially those with many part-time students.
6. Communicates High Expectations
Expect more and you will get more. High expectations are important for everyone - for the
poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated.
Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and
institutions hold high expectations of themselves and make extra efforts.
Some examples: In many colleges and universities, students with poor past records or test scores
do extraordinary work. Sometimes they out-perform students with good preparation.
7. Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college.
Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in
hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their
talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learning in new ways
that do not come so easily. Some examples: Individualized degree programs recognize different
interests. Personalized systems of
instruction and mastery learning let students work at their own pace. Contract learning helps
students define their own objectives, determine their learning activities, and define the criteria
and methods of evaluation.

12.3 Whose Responsibility for improvement of higher learning?

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Lecturers and students hold the main responsibility for improving higher education. But they
need a lot of help. College and university leaders, state and federal officials, and accrediting
associations have the power to shape an environment that is favorable to good practice in higher
education.
What qualities must this environment have?
A strong sense of shared purposes.
Concrete support from administrators and faculty leaders for those purposes.
Adequate funding appropriate for the purposes.
Policies and procedures consistent with the purposes.
Continuing examination of how well the purposes are being achieved.
There is good evidence that such an environment can be created. When this happens, faculty
members and administrators think of themselves as educators. Adequate resources are put into
creating opportunities for faculty members, administrators, and students to celebrate and reflect
on their shared purposes. Faculty members receive support and release time for appropriate
professional development activities. Criteria for
hiring and promoting faculty members, administrators, and staff support the institution's
purposes. Advising is considered important. Departments, programs, and classes are small
enough to allow faculty members and students to have a sense of community, to experience the
value of their contributions, and to confront the consequences of their failures. Setting policies
that are consistent with good practice in undergraduate education. Holding high expectations for
institutional performance. Keeping bureaucratic regulations to a minimum that is compatible
with public accountability. Allocating adequate funds for new undergraduate programs and the
professional development of faculty members, administrators, and staff. Encouraging
employment of under-represented groups among administrators, faculty members, and student
services professionals. Providing the support for programs, facilities, and financial aid necessary
for good practice in undergraduate education.

12.3 Academic Reforms at Institutional Level

• Phase-wise introduction of credit system
• Semester system
• Continuous and comprehensive evaluation
• Updating of curricula to retain its relevance
• Inter-disciplinarity in developing curricula
• Competitive admissions
• Innovations in Teaching-Learning Methods
• Rewards to meritorious teachers and researchers
• Teachers to continuously upgrade qualifications and knowledge
National Mission in Education through ICT:
National Mission in Education through Information Communication Technology is a mission
mode project to provide connectivity, valuable content and low cost computing devices to all the
Institutions of higher learning in the country. A National Knowledge Network will interconnect
all universities, libraries, laboratories, hospitals and agricultural institutions for sharing data and
computing resources across the country over a high-speed information network having gigabit
capabilities.
Open and Distance Learning:

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Distance education system is emerging as an important means to cater to the increasing demand
for higher education. Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is recognised and accepted as an
important mode for achieving enhanced access, developing skills, capacity building, training,
employability, life-long education and continuing education. . It provides avenues to those
students who are not able to leave their jobs or are not able to attend regular classes due to some
reasons.
Professional Development of Faculty:
Availability of adequate and qualified faculty is a pre-requisite for quality education and
Government has initiated short and medium term measures to mitigate the shortage of faculty,
which is affecting most educational institutions. The short term measures include increase in the
retirement age as well aso improvement of salary structures, in central higher educational
institutions. It also includes removing the restrictions on the recruitment of faculty and filling of
the vacant position. Several states too have relaxed the restrictions and taken steps to fill the
teaching post in colleges and universities.
Prevention of Unfair Practices in Higher Education Bill:
There has been public concern that technical and medical educational institutions, and
universities should not resort to unfair practices, such as charging of capitation fee and
demanding donations for admitting students, not issuing receipts in respect of payments made by
or on behalf of students, admission to professional programmes of study through non-transparent
and questionable admission processes, low quality delivery of education services and false
claims of quality of such services through misleading advertisements, engagement of
unqualified or neligible teaching faculty, forcible withholding of certificates and other
documents of students. Responding to these concerns, a legislation that would prohibit and
punish such practices has been introduced in Parliament to provide for prohibition and
punishment for adoption of unfair practices.

12.4 The supply side interventions proposed are:

The expansion efforts of the Ministry would continue with setting up of new institutions funded
by the central government. To meet the enrolment target it is necessary that expansion in the
intake capacity of government institutions takes place. The existing institutions need to be suppo
ted to develop infrastructure. The highest amount of financial support may be provided to the
lowest quality institutions especially those which are in rural regions, remote areas, and hilly
terrain. Funding may be ensured to bridge the quality gap. This strategy will meet the needs of
expansion as well as reduce the quality gap. The infrastructural funding will be necessary to
create a level playing field and mandate institutions for accreditation. To meet the needs of
expansion all new institutions which were established during the current Plan may also be
provided funding. Government institutions alone will not achieve such a large enrolment target.
Therefore, huge investment in private sector will be necessary. The objective of such non-plan
grant will be to meet the infrastructural deficiencies of institutions of higher education and also
fill up the existing vacancies of teachers.
Increasing and enhancing access can be enhanced through;
(a)upgradation of autonomous colleges with College with Potential for Excellence
status and accredited colleges as university level institutions;
(b) promoting evening universities/evening colleges;
(c) enhancing intake capacity of existing institutions of higher education;
(e)developing the ‘College Cluster Universities’ regionally and by

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(f) establishing “Meta university complexes” in association with Public/Private sector
undertakings as a part of their corporate-social responsibilities on an industry academia
mode.

12.5 Demand side interventions:

Financial constraints have been cited as reasons for not pursuing education beyond secondary
class. This brings in sharp focus the fact that without demand side financing; our efforts at
enhancing GER may not succeed. Targets Sector includes the following;
1 Student Loans
2 Scholarships/Freeships
3 Fellowships
4 Tution Fee Waiver
5 Tution Fee Reimbursements
6 Innovative Fee
7 Education Vouchers
8 Student Internships
9 Vocational Apprenticeships The demand side is to be addressed through several strategies. The
main strategy is that of encouraging institutions, especially the Universities to become one-stop-
shop for student financing. The Universities should adopt the best practices adopted in best of the
international Universities where the University takes care of all financing needs of the students.
It is worthwhile to note that these Universities only see eligibility and merit while granting
admissions. The student financing is almost implied. There are innovative student financing
options available which may include partial or full fee waiver, deferred payment options,
apprenticeships,
internships alongside student loans. Unfortunately so far, the affordability of education is one of
the biggest constraints deterring students from pursuing higher education. This also skews the
demand for education since many bright students evaluate courses on the fulcrum of cost rather
than aptitude.

12.5 Strengthening State Universities and Colleges:

The bulk of enrollment in higher and technical education takes place in universities and colleges
supported by the state governments. Assessment of critical infrastructure requirements and
additional infrastructure for capacity creation (including branch campuses) in State universities,
government & government aided colleges, as also engineering and technical institutions is
essential. This would also help to address regional imbalances & quality gaps. Governance
reforms in restructuring the affiliating system, granting autonomy to institutions with potential
for excellence, upgrading autonomous colleges to degree granting institutions, implementing
ERP/MIS for transparency & efficiency, rationalizing procedures to reduce delays and better
coordination. Special schemes to address equity and inclusion: not only would the plan schemes
be continued, but new schemes would also be launched to address special needs of minorities,
women and weaker sections. It is proposed to create Equal Opportunities’.. Special focus would
be laid on Minority Concentration districts of the country to ensure that good quality institutions
are available to all minorities. Similarly, efforts would be made to expand the number and
coverage of scholarship schemes . Efforts would also be focused on skill enhancement of special
classes needing special efforts..

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12.6 Quality And Excellence
Government has initiated a number of initiatives to ensure quality of teachers. The pay scales of
teachers are made very attractive. Similarly, PhD norms have been tightened. New initiatives
would be needed in order to address the quality deficit in the institutions. These schemes could
be in the form of schemes with financial commitments or simple institutional reforms. Quality of
teaching and learning would also be ensured through academic reforms, autonomy to institutions
and focus on research and innovation.

12.6.1Quality of research, quality of facilities, quality of infrastructure:

The following key policy and execution initiatives enhance quality of higher education Outcome
based research financing
• Liberal research grants
• Incubation Centers
• Ex-post-facto grants for outstanding research
• Collaboration with Research and Development in industry and setting up of research parks
• Lab – classroom linkages.
• Joint appointment with institutions
• Inter-disciplinary research
• Centers in frontier areas
• Out of turn promotions to outstanding reserachers
• Investment on Research and Development
• Industry academia collaboration in research and innovation.
• Inviting projects on Research and Development from abroad.
• Innovation Universities.
• Composite grants for research projects.
.
12.6.2 Consolidating and improving the capacity and quality of the existing
institutions.
• New institutions may be set up to bridge regional imbalances and disparities across disciplines
and to address special economic, social .
• Mandatory accreditation.
• Outcome based reimbursements.
• Preferential treatment system by regulators.
• Private Financing Initiative
• Perspective disciplines planning by regulators.
• Virtual Universities.
• Review of affiliation system.
• Expansion of ODL modes.
• Autonomous Colleges.
• Degree granting powers to colleges.
• Demand supply gap analysis.
12.6.3 Faculty Shortage and quality of faculty:
It has been established that state institutions and central institutions suffer
the most important factors impacting the quality of teaching. Some of the key strategies
proposed are:
• Grants to be linked to vacancy position in institutions.

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• New scheme of teaching assistantship.
• Appropriate linkages with institutions.
• Joint appointments of teachers : researchers can be engaged as faculty.
• Scheme of visiting professors.
• Operation faculty recharge.
• National Mission on teachers.
• Compulsory training and orientation to teachers.
• Promotions to be linked with performance – Performance Based Assessment System
• Enhancing prestige value of profession
.
12.6.4 Quality Improvement:
Independent quality assurance frameworks are essential to address the quality
deficit in the higher educational institutions. The key strategies are:
• Mandatory accreditation.
• Globally valid accreditation and quality assurance frameworks.
• Facilitation rather than regulation
• Single point clearances.
• Global quality institutions
• Horizontal and vertical mobility of students.
• Speedy adjudication.
• Universities for innovation
• Internationalization of education by enhanced collaborations and also
permitting Foreign Educational Institutions
• Grants to be linked with accreditation grades.

12.7 ACCESS
Many institutions find that the demand for access-related services is growing
faster than their resources permit. Other key challenges include ensuring that equality
is at the heart of the mission of higher-education institutions and that the quality of
our evidence-base is sufficient to inform the future development of higher-education
access policy.

12.7.1 Challenges
The following are the key challenges identified in the consultations leading to the
development of this plan:
• Access needs to be mainstreamed in the activities and strategies of institutions
• We must address the higher educational needs of those already in the workforce
• Addressing educational disadvantage and social exclusion will require joined-up strategies
across education levels and across government departments
• Achieving equity of access requires additional resources both for students and institutions
• The persistently poor participation by low to middle income working families needs special
attention
• We need to have special regard to the needs of recent immigrants
• The widening gap in participation between males and females requires focussed attention
• We must continue to improve our data gathering systems

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12.7.2 Policy Objectives
The following are the stated objectives of the plan:
• The priority accorded to promoting equality in higher education will be reflected in the
strategic planning and development of the Higher Education Authority and of higher-education
institutions.
• The lifelong learning agenda will be progressed through the development of a broader range of
entry routes, a significant expansion of part-time/flexible courses and measures to address the
student support implications of lifelong learning.
• The priority accorded to promoting equality in higher education will be reflected in the
allocation of public funds to higher-education institutions.
• Students will be assisted to access supports and those supports will better address the financial
barriers to access and successful participation in higher education.
National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education
The higher-education participation rates of people with disabilities will be increased through
greater opportunities and supports.

Review questions
i)Discuss principles for good practice in higher learning students
(ii)Explain the forces of principles of good practice in higher learning students.
(iii)Discuss the quality of research in higher education

TOPIC THIRTEEN ;Building on progress

13.0 TOPIC OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to;
(i)Discuss the national plan for equity of access to higher education
(ii)Formulate policies for improving higher education
(iii)Impliment policies for improving higher education
13.1 Introduction
The most recent statement of national policy on equality in higher education was
provided by the Achieving Equity of Access to Higher Education, Action Plan 2005-2007
which presented a roadmap of practical and attainable goals and actions under the
following headings:
• Communicating the rationale as to why equity of access to higher education continues to be a
policy priority
• Developing a national framework of access policies and initiatives
• Expanding routes of access, transfer and progression
• Supporting a broader range of teaching and learning practices
• Developing student and institutional funding programmes
• Establishing a more robust data collection and evaluation framework.
Progress has been made on each of the six areas. The national targets for participation have been
achieved and exceeded for students with a disability, for students facing social and economic
barriers and for mature students in full-time higher education. Key achievements of the National
Access Office over the period of the plan include the administration of the Third Level Access
measures of the National Development Plan, the publication of a funding review and an
evaluation of access programmes

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13.2 Objectives and supporting actions
• Institution-wide approaches to access
• Enhancing access through lifelong learning
• Investment in widening participation in higher-education
• Modernisation of student supports
• Widening participation in higher education for people with disabilities

13.3 National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education

Support for part-time higher education
The Higher Education Authority will work with the Department of Education and Science to
ensure that learners with disabilities who return to or continue with education through the part-
time course route have access to supports.
Funding to support students with disabilities
The National Access Office will initiate a review of the Fund for Students with Disabilities. The
review will include consideration of the appropriateness of the balance between individualised
and institutional funding for disability support.
Coherence between different levels of education
The Department of Education and Science will work with all relevant educational agencies to
ensure greater coherence in diagnostic assessments and in the provision of learning supports
across the different levels of education.
13.4 Participation in an international study
Institutions will develop access plans and processes for evaluation
Institutions will outline their strategies in institution-wide access plans. These plans should
include:
• A clear statement of the institution’s access policy
• Details of the access resources and personnel
• A clear statement of target groups, with reference to national and regional priorities
• An outline of pre-entry strategies and post-entry services and supports
• Links with partners in the community
• Outline of progression opportunities for access to the institution
• A profile of the student population in terms of key access criteria
• Targets for enhanced access
• A commitment to transparency, systematic data collection and evaluation
• Reviews of progress
• Upward feedback
objectives. This will inform our understanding of the eff ectiveness of our overall
policy and funding approach and will contribute to improvements in the quality and
responsiveness of the higher-education system.97

13.5 Assessment of the quality of higher education

Many students of the humanities feel higher education has little value for money paid because of
a number of factors:
There are too many graduates which results in unemployment even of those who excel and do
“good” courses. They think the content and teaching approach are too theoretical, resulting in
training job seekers and not job makers. But the engineers, teachers and vocational students have
a hope of competing quite favorably on the job market or being self employed.

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Facilities: All respondents agree that the number of students admitted is not proportionate to the
facilities available. Libraries are not modern; they are too small for the number of students and
not well stocked, a majority of the books being out-of-date. The students compete for space in
the libraries and often forego meals especially during the peak period of assignments and
examinations Although the computers are quite modern, they are too few for the number of
students. One category of students has
done IT (Information Technology) as a course theoretically for a whole year without an
opportunity to touch a computer. The students also reported having limited access to the internet
There is an increasing number of students which is unmatched by facilities, which has impacted
adversely on the quality of higher education.
The lecture rooms are too small for the number of students and insufficient seats. Students lose
time by transferring seats from one room to another and occasionally attend lectures standing up
with an overflow on the verandas. In addition, the lecture rooms are not sound proof; therefore
lecturers are interrupted by heavy rain, Guild campaigns and mowers. Quite often lecturers are
put off because of unbearable noise. The lecturers use dusty chalk on chalkboards which is a
health hazard. There are no public address systems for classes as big as 500 students. Where they
are available, they are unreliable because of power cuts. There are no standby generators yet
lectures go up to 10: 00 pm. Consequently lectures end as soon as power goes off and this occurs
quite often because Uganda is faced by insufficient supply of electricity resulting in frequent
load shading and power cuts especially in the early hours of the night which Umeme (the sole
distributors of hydro electricity in the country) refers to as peak hours. The students complain of
lack of constant flow of water with barely enough even for lecturers to wash hands after
teaching. This affects the sanitation especially of the students’ toilets as student numbers are too
high for the available
facilities.
Programmes are fragmented. Because of commercialization of higher education, courses have
been fragmented leading to very early specialization yet students get attracted to courses by
name and not content. For instance, at undergraduate level Psychology has been fragmented into
guidance and counseling, community psychology, organizational psychology, while the Bachelor
of commerce has been fragmented into accounting and finance, procurement and logistics,
business studies, international business, business administration, banking, and entrepreneurship
agrees that the majority of the some 1800 programmes offered at higher institutions of learning
are theoretical and irrelevant to the job market. universities of duplicating courses for the sake of
generating revenue from private students
Economic factors
Higher education has increasingly become expensive in terms of tuition, resulting in high rates of
attrition students who drop out half way. High cost of accommodation, feeding and transport
compel a majority of the students to reside in slums nieghbouring the institutions, going without
meals which causes some to faint especially during examinations. They buy cheap food from
unhygienic places that put their health to risk. They engage in cross generation sex and
prostitution as a means of meeting financial demands. This results in disease, unwanted
pregnancy, and psychological stress.

Quality of students who enroll for higher education:

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 The students are aware of the examination oriented primary and secondary education that does
not adequately prepare them for higher education. They generally have poor communication
skills and poor comprehension and cannot make notes. They consequently expect lecturers to
dictate notes.
They enter university when immature in character and they are exposed to a lot of freedom and
independence without being prepared for responsibility. This is coupled with very brief
orientation for only one week which in reality is missed by many; consequently, for many
students it takes time to understand the system, especially those from rural schools who are
coming to the city for the first time.
The continuing students are reported to bias the fresh students against orientation and the entire
university life. Also, the difference in financial background of students is a factor. Some are well
provided for and some struggle to survive. Either way the financial background distracts their
concentration.
Administrative factors: The students complain of bureaucratic tendencies where getting one’s
problem attended to is a very long and frustrating process. They quote the process of paying fees
where students pick up bank slips, line up at the bank, line up to get receipts, and line up to get
registered. All these consume much valuable time. They also complain of overcrowded and
bureaucratic medical services; consequently, students end up in self– medication or going to
private clinics to save time.
Poor record-keeping where some records of results cannot be found results in students re-sitting
examinations which is also very frustrating. This is coupled with lack of confidentiality; for
instance results are pinned up on notice boards. In addition, the students are not satisfied with
information flow. It is limited to only a few notice boards and some of it passes unnoticed.
Students’ assessment of the lecturers
“No education system can be better than the quality of its teachers”. (Senteza Kafubi 1998)
The students generally appreciate that the lecturer:student ratio is overwhelming. However, their
assessment of the quality of education in relation to lecturers was as follows: While some
lecturers are doing their best with limited resources, are knowledgeable and have a good
relationship with students, many exhibit tendencies of absenteeism,sluggishness, inability to give
valuable tim , and lack of concern for students’ challenges. They are concerned about
unprofessional behavior among lecturers and other staff resulting in rudeness and use of
threatening abuse of students. According to the students, some lecturers do not prepare notes;
instead they download articles and assign text book chapters for students to make copies, which
is very costly. The students reported that they prefer lecturers who dictate summarized notes as
they save them the cost of photocopying and the hassles of competing for the library.
Consequently students have remained highly dependent on those notes and reproduce the same
during examinations. This is an indicator of the poor reading culture of both the lecturers and
students.
They reported having limited opportunity for consultation; they meet lecturers only during
lecturer time and therefore cannot obtain guidance and counseling or other forms of support, but
appreciate that the lecturer:student ratio is high. Students noted that many lecturers are not
highly qualified; very few hold PhDs and there are no professors teaching the students who took
part in the FGDs, apart from those at top management level. The universities are dealing with
this by focusing on academic staff development with many taking up courses at home and
abroad. However, the general observation is that those who go abroad get good quality education
but often do not come back, and those who come fail to cope with the working conditions at

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home. The lecturers lack practical pedagogical skills to effectively facilitate the development of
higher order thinking skills through appropriate methodology. Consequently, the students are not
empowered to apply and transfer knowledge so as to transform themselves and society as is their
wish. According to Prof. Mamdani, a renowned educationalist, the “publish or perish”
philosophy reduces the quality of instruction at higher education; academicians spend time doing
research and not teaching. Remuneration of the teaching and non teaching staff at institutions of
higher education is far below the living wage. Given the cost of living the academic staff take up
extra hours of teaching load, teach at other private universities, or engage in other money making
activities to “make ends meet” at the expense of the quality of the service they ought to offer.
Poor remuneration results in brain drain, which is the international migration of skilled human
capacity which is common and a symptom of deeper problems in Africa and developing
countries in generalaccording to Baligidde (2006), higher institutions’ top managers must
consider the needs of their subordinates and particularly how they can facilitate the satisfaction
of those needs. They need to consider the context in which the needs
occur and the capabilities of their academic staff. The academic staff also reported that while
many of them are proud to be part of such a high caliber profession, they lack the morale and job
satisfaction to perform effectively. Morale is the mood enthusiasm to work while job satisfaction
is the overall effective state resulting from appraisal of all aspects of one’s job.)

13.6 Recommendations
13.6.1 The curriculum and general educational pedagogy
 There is need to regularly renew and design the curriculum to make it more practical and
market oriented to produce skilled and highly educated graduates for the private sector
both at home and abroad instead of traditional civil services.
 Higher education institutions need to concentrate on delivering programmes which are
consistent with the institutional goals, strategic vision and mission rather that diversifying
for the purpose of competition and income generation.
 The institutions should make deliberate efforts to communicate their goals, mission, and
vision to students so that they are part of the goal achievement process during their
course; communicating goals is likely to have a significant influence on the achievement
of learning outcomes.
 Outcome-Based Education (OBE) for all higher education institutions. OBE’s learner
centered approach focuses on what learners actually learn and how well they learn it and
not on what they are supposed to learn.
 Emphasis is not on what teachers want to achieve but rather on what the learners should
know, understand, demonstrate and become. The teachers and learners focus on
predetermined outcomes to be achieved by the end of each teaching–learning process and
the outcomes are determined by real life needs and ensure integration of knowledge,
competence and responsibility. The formulated outcomes of the OBE model emphasize
the development of critical, investigative and future–oriented citizens.
 There is need for higher programmes to embrace increasingly popular evening
programmes, weekend arrangements and online and distance learning programmes.

13.6.2 General funding

At policy level it should be realized that higher education is not cheap and therefore give
it more resources. Also,

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Government should devise means of strengthening capacity of universities to come up
with solutions to the problems facing society today.

Universities should not have to focus on widening access to higher education by
increasing student numbers but should ensure that the quality of higher education
improves.

Also the Government should increase funding for university education and research so as
to spur economic development. (Swedish ambassador to Uganda Anders Johnson)

Improve remuneration to staff in order to increase the valuable time and the quality of
services given to students and their formal jobs.

Address the problem of funding through operationalising the loan scheme for students,
especially those from poor families, to access higher education, and for staff personal
economic development.

Also private and public institutions should solicit grants for facilities and infrastructure as
well as research.

There is need for constructive engagement of University with the donor community,
other Universities, the local community if they are to become more efficient. The
partnership may be in the form of knowledge networks, or transferring academic
knowledge into industrial and socially relevant applications

African Governments should set up PhD and Masters degree centres to enable Africans to
get home based professionals who can appropriately deal with African problems.

13.6.3Student suggestions for improvement of the quality of higher education

There should be effective supervision of all institutional services and facilities: the
teaching process, medical, water and power supply, handling power supply, handling of
results and other records

. Create more teaching space and recruit more staff so that students are put in small
manageable groups

The universities should come up with alternative ways of delivering services: Overhaul
the entire system and have computerized and well– monitored structures and system of
students’ personal information, fees payments, examination results and registration.
Examination records should be communicated to individuals by internet instead of
pinning them up on notice boards.

Orientation should be more meaningful and not a mere one-week process. Also, payment
of fees, registration, and issuance of receipts and other documents should be using
modern facilities such as electronic money transfers.

Revise remunerations for teaching and other staff so that they can give valuable and
friendly services, and hold regular seminars on student welfare for university staff in
order to improve their services

There is need for research to influence policy on higher education. There is also need to
translate research into practice in the role of higher education for social transformation.

Mandatory counseling should be encouraged to help students cope with the social,
academic and bureaucratic challenges.

13.7 Globalization Challenges and University Education

The rapid expansion of university education has led to a number of challenges. According to
UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education low funding from the exchequer, increased

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enrolment, limited access compared to the population level, increased enrolment without
commensurate improvement in available facilities, gender inequality, and a low research
capacity, are some of the problems facing universities in the region. These problems have led to
fears that quality of education is in a downward trend in most of these universities.

Research and Publications

Research is one of the core pillars of the university system. Publication of research findings in
reputable journals is one of the ways in which these findings are widely disseminated to
stakeholders. Studies show that research and publishing by faculty has sharply dropped over the
last few years. Due to heavy teaching responsibilities – brought about by the rising student
numbers, plus the need to moonlight so as to make some extra money to supplement the meagre
pay. This means that faculties are not keen on undertaking meaningful research and publishing
their work.

Leadership and Management

Globally, the environment of higher education is facing relentless and rapid change. These
circumstances underscore the crucial role of leadership and management in maintaining morale,
enhancing productivity, and helping staff at all institutional levels cope with momentous and
rapid change. Those in higher education management and leadership positions are finding it
essential that they understand shifting demographics, new technologies, the commercialization of
higher education, the changing relationships between institutions and governments and the move
from an industrial to an information society. Particularly in the developing world, higher
education institutions must be poised to create the human capital necessary to keep pace with the
knowledge revolution. Current leaders must be trained, new leaders prepared, and students
identified who will both lead and study higher education for the future
Remuneration of University Staff.
Universities, especially public ones, have almost exclusively depended on the government for
remunerating their staff. This has led to a situation where staff are not paid the equivalent of their
counterparts in the more developed societies. Many professors have therefore decamped to other
countries in search of better pay, affecting the teaching needs of Kenyan universities. Demand
for better pay has often led to standoffs between the government and the university academic
staff union (UASU).

Financing

Public universities in Kenya have traditionally relied on Government funding to carry out their
activities. Due to the harsh economic situations witnessed by the region over the recent past,
Government support to these institutions has seen a steady decline, and the universities have
been forced to operate under very tight budgets. The situation has not been made any better by
the structural adjustment programmes prescribed by our bilateral partners. The universities have
therefore been forced to rethink their strategy, and possibly look for extra sources of financing
including establishing income-generating activities.

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13.8 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Capacity and Utilization
The swiftness of ICT developments, their increasing spread and availability, the nature of their
content and their declining prices, are having major implications for learning. There is need to
tap the potential of ICT to enhance data collection and analysis, and to strengthen management
systems in educational institutions; to improve access to education by remote and disadvantaged
communities; to support initial and continuing professional development of teachers; and to
provide opportunities to communicate across classrooms and cultures. Most universities in
Kenya have very limited access to modern computing and communications technology, so it is
increasingly difficult for teachers and students to keep abreast of current developments in their
academic areas.

Quality and standards

Although it is readily accepted that academic quality – how good the academic programmes are
in relation to agreed-upon standards – is an important component of higher education.
Universities worldwide are in a fix, caught between severe budget cuts and a flood of students in
search of useful degrees. In Kenya, overcrowding, low budgets and staff retention problems have
contributed to inefficiency and declining academic standards.

Jobs
Students lucky enough to get a university degree have no guarantee of finding employment.
Whereas in the 1970s, university graduates were able to step into managerial-level civil service
posts, today's job prospects are less obvious, due to tough structural adjustment programmes and
recruitment restrictions.
Staff recruitment is another area which lags behind and impacts negatively on teaching and
research. Up to two-thirds of university teachers have had no initial pedagogical training. Most
of these institutions are relying on individuals who have not acquired their highest level of
academic training as lecturers. To improve their efficiency and effectiveness in delivering their
services, staff, and especially the academic staff, must be trained continually in relevant areas.
Universities must have a clear training policy, outlining their strategy for human resource
development, instead of the ad hoc procedures currently followed in most of these institutions.

Student Welfare

A crucially important component of any university system – and which is often ignored in most
university decisions – is the student welfare. National and institutional decision-makers must
place students and their needs at the centre of their concerns, and must consider them as major
partners and responsible stakeholders in the renewal of higher education. This must include
student involvement in issues that affect that level of education, in evaluation, the renovation of
teaching methods and curricula, and in the framework of policy formulation and institutional
management. As students have the right to organize and represent themselves, their involvement
in these issues must be guaranteed.

Gender Equity

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The participation of women in higher education is very low in Kenya, in large part because of
traditional cultural values that emphasize women's roles as wife and mother. Women in Kenya
are underrepresented in HE institutions as students and as workers. While gender disparities in
students' enrolment exist at all levels of HE, they are particularly wide at higher degree levels
and in science, mathematics and technology oriented subjects. At the same time, women are
underrepresented in teaching and in the administration of these institutions. Further, women
academics are concentrated in the lower ranks of the hierarchy and in the traditional ‘female'
social science and education disciplines while as administrators they are few and far in between
in the higher ranks of HE administration.

Internationalization
The dawn of a global knowledge society with information-driven economies and expansions in
international higher education markets is placing new demands on them to search for more
innovative approaches in academic course provisions; revenue generation; uncertain educational
quality; institutional governance, and human resource management and to address longstanding
difficulties caused by rapid enrolments; financial constraints; frequent labour strife and brain
drain.
Access
Admission, especially into Kenyan public universities under Government subsidy has become
extremely difficult for most qualifying students. Every year, many students attain the university
cut-off grades but due to limited resources in the public universities, only a few manage to get
themselves absorbed. The rest, who in most cases cannot afford the high fees, charged by private
institutions both locally and overseas, end up frustrated in their bid to acquire higher education.
For instance, the decision of Joint Admission Board (2006) to raise university entry cut off point
to B+ of 70 marks in seven subjects at the KCSE from 67 marks in the year 2005 is purportedly
pegged on accommodation facilities that exist in the public universities. This decision has far
reaching implications. A huge number of students found themselves locked out only to allow
10,211 students of the total of 68, 030 qualified for admission in 2006 .
In an attempt to reduce the problem of access, the public universities in the region are opening up
their doors to other students under private sponsorship (commonly referred to as the parallel
degree programme). This programme has also seen these institutions generate some extra finance
that is ploughed back into their recurrent and development expenditure. There have been reports
of conflicts, however, between the Government- and privately-sponsored students. The former
feel that the latter are not qualified to join universities and may therefore water down university
standards, while at the same time causing unnecessary congestion at the hitherto revered
institutions. .
The four aspects in relation to teaching and learning processes in University education include
the following;
1. Curriculum design: By what processes are curricula designed, reviewed and improved?
2. Implementation quality: How well do faculty members perform their teaching duties?
3. Outcomes assessment: How do staff, departments, schools and the institution monitor
student outcomes and link outcomes to the improvement of teaching and learning
processes?
4. Resource provision: Are the human, technical and financial resources needed for quality
made available when and where needed?

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In addition to looking at the processes and sub-processes which are supposedly institutionalized
by the universities in Kenya to facilitate learning and promote quality teaching, questions
concerning four cross-cutting “meta-areas” that pertain to the institutions’ quality assurance and
improvement environment are raised:
• Quality-program framework: Do the institution and its schools, departments, and other
operating units have well-articulated written mission, vision and policy statements
pertaining to quality and quality assurance? Do teachers and administrators know the
content of these statements, and can they describe how they implement their content?
• Formal quality program activities: Do the institution and its schools, departments, and
other operating units have formal programs to assure quality levels and spur continuous
teaching and learning quality improvement?
• Quality-program support: Does the institution fund projects and activities and undertake
new initiatives in teaching and have units organized to aid regular teaching and
administrative staff in performing their duties? Does it fund special projects outside the
teaching development centre?
• Values and incentives: Does the institution’s motivational environment – its intrinsic and
extrinsic reward structure – furthers the assurance and improvement of teaching and
learning quality?

The need for Management Reviews and University Governance Review

The origin of the Management Reviews (MRs) can be traced to the growing financial constraints
facing universities in the globalisation era. The reviews cover all the management processes and
systems in the areas of academic administration, administration, maintenance and development
of the estate, procurement, student support services, human resources, IT, and finance. They are
qualitative in nature and seek to promote self-assessment and self-improvement within the
institutions through dialogue, discussion, and analysis of issues with the consultants and
members of the Review Panels. They also seek to promote the sharing of experiences and best
The intention is to help universities improve their administration via good management, to
provide a review of the performance of each individual university, and to provide some
accountability for the performance of the system to the main sponsor - government and the
public More specifically, each institution has gone through rigorous evaluations in six areas of
management practices, namely, development of a strategic plan, resource allocation,
implementation of plans, roles, responsibilities and training, service delivery, and management
information systems.
It is clear that the higher education governance model has changed to a “corporate governance
model” whereby the government has become the educational service coordinator and facilitator
instead of monopolizing the service provider role. It is clear that Universities are now
experiencing a corporatization process). By “corporatization”, I refer to the way that higher
education institutions are now run and governed, like business or market-like entities. University
Vice Chancellors and professors are becoming business executives or chief executive officers
and their major concerns are closely related to resources and efficiency instead of academic
values and intellectual concerns. Seen in this light, we must be well aware of the far-reaching
significance and particular attention must be paid to both positive and negative consequences of
st
such types of higher education reform strategies in the 21 century.

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The need for International Benchmarking and internationalization
Kenyan universities have tried to benchmark with top universities in the world. Universities in
Kenya have competed not only with overseas universities but they also try to show how good
they are in various university ranking exercises or university league tables. The ranking report
reveals unfortunately poor performance in Kenyan Universities. This paper opines that there are
lessons to be learnt in the ranking criterion and has had a significant impact on the performance
of universities worldwide. It must be noted that only nine universities from Kenya were ranked
in the top hundred universities in Africa. Of the six public universities at least five were within
the top hundred, except one- Maseno University.
Review questions

(i)Discuss the national plan for equity of access to higher education

(ii)Formulate policies for improving higher education
(iii)Impliment policies for improving higher education

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abagi, O. (2006). Private Higher Education in Kenya. In Varghese (Ed.) Growth and
Expansion of Private Higher Education in Africa: IIEP

Afeti, G. et al. (2008). Differentiation and Articulation in Tertiary Education Systems: A

Study of Twelve Africa Countries. Washington D.C: World Bank.

Higher Education in Kenya. Nairobi: CHE Publishing.

Commission for Higher Education (2008). Stakeholders Workshop on Enhancing Quality

Higher Education in Kenya. Nairobi: CHE Publishing.

Commission for Higher Education. (2005-2010). Commission for Higher Education

Strategic Plan: Advancement and Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Kenya.
Nairobi: CHE Publishing.

Commission for Higher Education (2008). Status of Universities in Kenya URL.

http://www.che.or.ke/status.html (Retrieved November 26, 2009), (2008)

Davis, C. and Eisemon, T. (1993). In Ahmed, A. (Ed) Universities and Research Capacity:

Karani, F. (1998). Relevance of Higher Education Policies and Practices. In UNESCO (Ed.)
Higher Education in Africa: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects: UNESCO.

Majone, G. (1980). The Uses of Policy Analysis. Policy Studies Review.

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Mungai, J. (1998). Relevance of Higher Education with a Special Reference to East Africa.

Smith, D. & Saunders, M. (1991). Other Routes: Part-time Higher Education Policy.
Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.

Sifuna, D. (1997). Crisis in Public Universities in Kenya. In Modgil, Reforms in

Higher Education. London.

SAMPLE QUESTION PAPERS

SAMPLE PAPER ONE
Question one
a. Define the term planning
b. Outline the characteristics of the planning process
c. State and explain the steps involved in planning.
d. What is the importance of proper planning in an organization.
e. Discuss the obstacles you are likely to face as an administrator in an institution of
learning.
Question two
a. The history of Kenya’s system of education takes five periods .Discuss these periods and
show how they impact on the current system of education in Kenya today.
b. Outline the actions that apply to all higher education institutions:
c. Explain the characteristics of an effective education plan for societal gains

Question three
a. Discuss the various phases of the planning process in detail
b. Name and discuss the four categories the goals of vocationalization of education.

Question four
a. Discuss the challenges facing the training of teachers trainees in the Kenyan
universities.Does this have an impact on the academic achievement in the learners in the
national examinatios today?
b. Outline development priorities in successive planning in education that you would apply
to achieve the goals and objectives of education.

Question five
a. List down human competencies that lead to stakeholder empowerment and accountability
in an institution.
b. Discuss the Implications of Globalisation for Knowledge, Education and Learning
c. The role of knowledge within the economy is leading to a whole range of new industries
and new developments in biotechnology, new materials science, informatics and
computer science. Discuss giving relevant examples.

SAMPLE PAPER TWO

Question one

112
 a. Define the term globalization and identify ten key components that should be included in
the new system of knowledge, education and learning.
b. Discuss for and against kenya’s education plan today.
c. Explain the three pillars of vision 2030
d. Discuss the impact of the activities under vision 2030 in the education sector

Question two
a. How can we increase the efficiency of education system ?
b. Define efficiency
c. Define effectiveness
d. Discuss the reasons for monitoring and evaluation.

Question three
a. Outline ways of evaluating
b. Discuss the merits and dimerits of internal and external evaluations.
c. Name the criteria for selecting an external evaluator or evaluation team.

Question four

a. Monitoring and evaluation should be part of the planning process for the effectiveness
and efficiency in a work place.Discuss.
b. Define quantitative measurement
c. Qualitative measurement
d. Discuss the steps involved in designing a monitoring system

Question five
a. Explain the steps involved in an effective decision making process
b. Outline reasons for resistance in an organization .How would you deal with resistance to
create a condusive environment in a work station.
c. Discuss the following practices for development.
Economic Development Indicators
-Social Development Indicators
-Political/organisational Development Indicators

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