Top Ugandan varsity fails Kenya quality test
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Top-Ugandan-varsity-fails-Kenya-quality-test-/-/1056/1626286/-/o3efio/-/index.html
By BENJAMIN MUINDI bmuindi@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, November 22 2012 at 00:29
In Summary
- This means that thousands of Kenyans who graduated from Kampala International University (KIU) in the last ten years or so were awarded qualifications not recognised in Kenya.
- Three of the applicants for the posts of Inspector-General of Police and deputies were disqualified because their certificates from KIU were not recognised by CHE.
- The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) of Uganda stopped KIU from awarding the PhDs on the eve of its graduation ceremony until they were verified.
This means that thousands of Kenyans who graduated from Kampala International University (KIU) in the last ten years or so were awarded qualifications not recognised in Kenya.
Three of the applicants for the posts of Inspector-General of Police and deputies were disqualified because their certificates from KIU were not recognised by CHE.
“This is a cause for alarm. The institution is not chartered and therefore any papers from KIU cannot be recognised in Kenya,” CHE Chief Executive David Some told the Nation on Wednesday in an interview.
“When students graduate from KIU, the commission cannot undertake ‘equation for qualification’ of their papers, meaning that they are not qualified according to the Kenyan standards,” he added.
Prof Some spoke days after Ugandan authorities directed KIU to stop awarding 42 PhD degrees, saying it lacked capacity to mount the courses. (READ: Higher education chaotic)
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) of Uganda stopped KIU from awarding the PhDs on the eve of its graduation ceremony until they were verified. Of the 42, officials said 30 were to be awarded to Kenyan students.
The New Vision of Uganda reported that the PhD students were about to graduate when NCHE said the institution did not have the capacity to pass out such degrees.
NCHE Executive Director A B K Kasozi is reported to have written to the office of the university’s vice-chancellor stopping the graduation.
Prof Kasozi set out conditions for KIU to beat before the 42 PhD students can be allowed to graduate, which included submission of the external examiners’ reports on each of the students, the period each student had taken to complete the programme and the list of external and internal examiners.
Prof Some said Kenyans need to do background checks before they enrol in the institutions.
42 PhD students stopped from graduating at KIU
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/637403-42-phd-students-stopped-from-graduating-at-kiu.html
Publish Date: Nov 19, 2012
By John Semakula and John Masaba
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has directed Kampala International University (KIU) to halt the awarding of 42 PhDs until they are verified.
The PhD students were to graduate on Saturday during the university’s ninth graduation ceremony.
But on Friday morning, the executive director of NCHE, Prof. A.B.K Kasozi, wrote to the office of the university’s vice-chancellor stopping the graduation of the 42 students.
In a letter which New Vision saw, NCHE was challenging the university’s ability to pass out such a big number of graduates with PhDs.
“NCHE has received news that you are going to graduate 42 PhD students. Last year, you graduated over 20 PhD students. NCHE is concerned about your capacity to graduate such a number in a span of two years,” the letter read.
Kasozi set out conditions for KIU to beat before the 42 PhD students can be allowed to graduate.
The conditions included submission of the external examiners’ reports on each of the students, the period each student had taken to complete the programme and the list of external and internal examiners. NCHE also stated that at one point, the university may require verifying all the dissertations of the 42 PhD students.
When contacted for a comment, the university’s public relations officer, Chris Mubiru, said they had not yet received the letter and that there was no way they would stop the students from graduating at the last hour.
Higher education chaotic
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/Higher-education-chaotic/-/440804/1626168/-/7o95yr/-/index.html
Posted Wednesday, November 21 2012 at 19:00
Higher education has recorded phenomenal growth in East Africa in recent years due to increased demand.
Altogether, there are about 100 universities in East Africa, both public and private, with Kenya hosting the highest number, 40.
But the growth has come with enormous challenges, key among them being quality control and assurance.
The five East African states have regulatory agencies to control and guide the expansion of higher education institutions, but experience shows they are not very effective.
Many irregular things happen raising questions about the quality of some programmes offered.
A case in point is Kampala International University, arguably, one of the fastest growing institutions in the region which has, reportedly, been offering unapproved degrees.
Both Uganda’s and Kenya’s regulators have disowned its programmes on the ground that they are not recognised.
Kenya’s Commission for Higher Education and other regulators must crack down on universities and other tertiary institutions offering questionable certificates. We need order in higher education.
