KEY ISSUES IN MANAGING

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KEY ISSUES IN MANAGING CROSS-BORDER PROVISION OF
EDUCATION EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES FROM KENYA
PAPER PRESENTED BY PROF. KAREGA MUTAHI PERMANENT
SECRETARY MINISTRY OF EDUCATION SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY, NAIROBI, KENYA AT UNESCO/OECD
AUSTRALIA CONFERENCE ON 11TH -12th OCTOBER, 2004.
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1. INTRODUCTION

• Kenya is one of the African countries that
  straddles the equator
• Has varied climatic conditions ranging from sea
  level to snow capped Mt. Kenya.
• 20 is high potential, 80 ranges from medium
  potential to arid lands (ASALS) with a population
  of 28.7 m people of different races. (2003
  survey)
• 3 education systems are in operation i.e.
  national system of education locally known as
  8.4.4.(KCPE KCSE) and various unique systems
  offered by embassies and high commissions. The
  British system is offered in exclusive private
  primary and secondary schools i.e. 7.6.3 offering
  GCE O and A levels.
• The systems attract learners both within and
  outside Kenya, mainly from eastern African
  countries (for national system). No accreditation
  in primary and secondary education in Kenya,
  however the Govt. through MOEST Inspectorate is
  responsible for QA - regardless of ownership of
  schools.
• For Schools run under embassies, there is no QA
  by the Government .

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2. THE BROAD POLICY CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION

• The Govts broad policy for education is
  articulated in documents like Strategic Plan
  (ESSP 2003).
• The report of National Conference on Education
  and Training (2004). And
• The draft sessional Paper (2004)
• In all these papers the Governments policy is to
  provide
• Education and training through partnership with
  private sector and other stakeholders
• The overall vision is to provide quality
  education to all Kenyans
• The medium and long term objective on QA is to
  deliver quality education to any learner who
  joins an institution in Kenya.

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3. THE TRENDS AND STATUS OF CROSS-BORDER HIGHER
EDUCATION

• Since the inception of the 6th National
  Development Plan (1989-1993), the Govt. policy on
  higher Education has been geared towards
  development of a skilled and versatile workforce
  to meet increasing demands in technical and
  professional areas, which has lead to expansion
  of local public universities and a growing number
  of private universities.
• The Govt. encourages partnership between public
  and private sector , and that approach is
  expanding the opportunities for acquisition of
  higher education in Kenya.
• There is an increased number of students from
  other countries with the rising No. of private
  universities.
• Its interesting to note that while public
  universities have 33 of students as female,
  private ones have Gender parity.

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3.1 TYPES OF INSTITUTION AND COURSES OFFERED

• In the last decade, private post-secondary
  institutions have expanded rapidly in terms of
  the No. of Institutions, Courses offered and
  student enrolments. These can be classified to
  the areas of their specialization
• Teacher training colleges-offering certificate
  and Diploma level qualifications for the teaching
  career.
• Business schools - offering Accounting and
  business management courses.
• Information and technology colleges mainly
  computer schools and academies.
• Professional colleges offering courses in
  areas like insurance and banking.
• Main institutions offering cross-border education
  services are Public private universities,
  commercial colleges, Virtual university and
  institutions attached to embassies and High
  commissions (study carried out by CHE )

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3.1.1 PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES INVOLVED

• Public universities are working with foreign
  universities thro various MoUs to offer key
  academic programs such as
• University of Nairobi
• Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Law,
  Sciences and Social Sciences.
• Moi University- Eldoret
• Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine,
  Education, Social Sciences
• Kenyatta University Nairobi Education, Arts and
  Commerce.
• Egerton University- Njoro Agriculture,
  Engineering and Education.
• JKUAT Agriculture, Technology, Computer Science
  and Engineering.
• Maseno Education.
• Total enrolment of local students is 72,875
  students. There are also exchange students,
  mainly at postgraduate level.

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3.1.2 PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

• There are 17 private universities in Kenya, 6
  being chartered 5 operating under letters of
  interim authority, registered to offer higher
  education. Their affiliation to foreign
  universities is an example in provision of
  cross-border education.
• United States International University(USIU)
• Established in 1952, having started its
  operations in Kenya in 1970, USIU is one of the
  best practices of cross- border education.
  (Enrolments up to 2,900 students in 2004)
• USIU enjoys dual accreditation and offers the
  following programs International Relations,
  Psychology, Journalism, Hotel Restaurant
  Management, Business Administration, Information
  Systems technology ant Tourism Management.

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3.1.3 EXAMPLES OF COMMERCIAL COLLEGES

• a. Grafins College
• The total number of students enrolled is 731.
• b. Kenya College of Accountancy KCA)
• The total number of students enrolled was 6,645
  in 2003.
• KCA has entered into partnerships with a number
  of foreign Universities.

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3.1.4 African Virtual University(AVU)

• AVU collaborates in teaching and research with
  institutions and universities in USA, Australia
  and Canada through satellite and internet
  technology.
• More than 24,000 students from 17 African
  countries have completed a semester-long course.
• Main courses are Information Technology and
  Business courses.
• Four public universities are collaborating in
  this programme, the most active ones being
  University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University.
• 3.1.5 Australian Study Institute (AUSI)
• AUSI was established in Kenya in 2000, and offers
  Diploma Advanced Diploma courses in
• Business administration,
• Information technology and
• Diploma in Information Technology

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3.1.6 CHARLES KENDAL EDUCATION SERVICES

• Established in 1999, it offers Education services
  to those seeking international education or
  wishing to enroll in Universities abroad through
  Distance Learning (DL).
• Courses are linked to University of Leicester in
  UK, University of Melbourne in Australia and
  University of North Wood, Saginaw Valley and
  Johnson and Wales in USA.
• Courses include
• Education counselling
• Information on Education opportunities abroad,
  application processing, co-ordination and
  administration of examinations.
• The total number of students who have graduated
  are 18.

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3.1.7 THE BRITISH COUNCIL TEACHING CENTRE

• It started offering trans-border education
  services in 1992.
• The students register for the programmes directly
  with UK universities, and materials are mailed
  directly to the students.
• Examination materials are sent directly to the
  Center Manager for examination administration.
• The services offered in addition to examination
  administration are
• Registration of students
• Invigilation
• Student information meeting.
• The universities involved are Warwick, London,
  Leicester, Wolverhampton, Durham, Southern
  Queensland, Deakin, Bangor and Henley Management
  College.
• Courses offered include Association of Chartered
  Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered
  Institute of Purchasing and Supplies(CIPS)

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4. QUALITY ASSURANCE

• The important elements to consider when
  addressing QA include
• (a) Admission Criteria
• For diploma courses the admission criteria
  include
• Pass C in KCSE
• Specified grade required for certain courses
• For admission to degree programmes, one needs
• At least mean grade of C in KCSE
• Specified number of points in any given cluster
  of subjects required for particular courses (are
  often imposed)
• (b) Physical and Learning /Teaching resources
• Provision of physical facilities learning/
  teaching resources is another determinant.
• On the whole, cross-border private institutions
  have teaching, learning resources comparable to
  those in public institutions.
• Public institution have greater potential given
  physical and human capital resources available to
  them.

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4.2 CAPACITY BUILDING

• a. Staff Development
• Many cross-border education institutions lack
  policies on staff development and capacity
  building. A number of Lecturers are foreigners
  and Volunteers, posing a serious challenge to
  cross- border provision and has a bearing on
  national provision due to the sharing of academic
  staff.
• b. Criteria for registration of institutions
• CHE is responsible for registration of degree
  awarding institutions while MOEST registers
  non-degree awarding institutions.
• CHEs conditions are that the institution must
  have
• A registered Manager
• Appropriate numbers of qualified staff
• An inspection report from MOH and MOEST.
• Application to the Minister for Education.

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4.3 ACCREDITATION

• There is no specialized agent for accreditation
  of cross-border provision of education in
  Kenya.The functions are undertaken by CHE,
  individual public or private institutions.
• Collaborations between cross-border education
  providers and recognized public institutions of
  higher learning in Kenya.
• Collaboration between any public university and a
  transnational provider is initiated through the
  signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. This is
  allowed in the respective Acts of Parliament for
  the Various public universities.
• b. Collaborations with private universities.
• Chartered private Universities are not allowed to
  collaborate with cross-border education
  providers.
• Where a private university wishes to introduce
  new courses, it is taken through an evaluation
  criteria by CHE and then taken to be a course of
  the local university.

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(C ) CHE ACCREDITATION MODEL

• CHE accreditation model has 4 parts, namely
• Submission application for establishment of a
  private university giving its proposal and
  evaluation of the proposal
• Grant of letter of interim Authority
• Preparation of legal instruments
• Final Inspection and Award of Charter.

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5. CHALLEGES AND ISSUES IN CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION

• Provision of cross-border education is hampered
  by several factors, e.g. infrastructure, human
  capacity and other resources. Some of the
  challenges are discussed below
• 5.1 National accessibility to the internet.
• In some cases access to the internet is through
  dial up of leased lines to ISPs. The
  Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has
  challenges of providing effective bandwidth to
  users of internet.
• Telephone lines are mainly concentrated in urban
  areas. The points where Jambonet can be accessed
  in the country are few.
• Monopoly of fixed telephone service provision
• Limited availability of ICT facilities in
  institutions
• Low level of awareness on usefulness of ICT in
  the general development of the country.
• Lack of relevant ICT policy to promote e-commerce
  and e-use in other sectors.

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5.2 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION

• It is difficult to establish the number of
  students participating in on-line courses.
• Local institutions tend to only facilitate the
  e-learning by providing facilities and support
  services such as labs, classes and site
  personnel, while the transnational providers
  develop programmes, teach, evaluate and award
  degrees.
• The QA mechanism is therefore left to
  transnational providers and the product is not
  vetted by CHE (if collaboration is with a
  recognized public institution) this will change
  soon
• 5.3 CAPACITY BUILDING FOR CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION
  SERVICES
• In Kenya most instructors are from public
  institutions and 70 of the staff in cross-border
  education work on part-time basis.
• Part-time members of staff (full-time staff in
  public institutions) are benefiting from stronger
  ICT infrastructural facilities in private and
  commercial types of institutions.
• Providers benefit from experienced staff from
  public institutions.

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5.4 LOW ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION

• Access to higher education remains limited at
  approximately 10 of those who qualified.
• Currently, public and private universities
  accommodate approximately 30 of all qualified
  students. This percentage doesnt include adult
  learners in search of opportunities to improve
  and acquire knowledge and qualifications.
• It also does not include any foreigners who are
  working but may be looking for education
  opportunities in Kenya.

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5.5 COMPETITION FOR STUDENTS

• Public and private universities have entered into
  an era of stiff competition from trans-national
  providers, who have come up with programmes that
  are flexible for those seeking life long
  education while continuing to keep in employment.
• 5.6 COST OF FINANCING OF CROSS-BORDER EDUCATION
• Fees charged by trans-national providers are
  comparable to those charged by private
  universities. These fees are 50 more than those
  charged for similar courses in public
  universities.
• The charges can only be afforded by middle and
  upper level economic strata who can therefore
  qualify for better jobs, posing a serious
  implication to the achievement of the national
  goals of equity and social integration.

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6. RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAY FORWARD

• 6.1 Recommendations related to cross border
  educational services.
• Trans-national providers of education need to be
  registered under appropriate legislation in order
  to ensure quality and compliance.
• The providers need to be evenly distributed
  between rural and urban areas.
• The programmes offered need to have a balance
  between market driven courses and the need to
  develop human resources to meet national
  development goals.
• Cross-border provision may never provide for the
  poor.
• We need capacity building for quality assurance.

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THANK YOU