THE STANDARD By
Augustine Oduor |
December 29th 2020 at 12:47:33 GMT +0300
University Education PS Simon Nabukwesi at a past event. [File, Standard]
Universities have been advised to only work with one regulator to guarantee quality and standards of courses taught in the institutions.
University Education PS Simon Nabukwesi said only the Commission for University Education (CUE) is mandated in law to audit and approve courses in universities.
In a statement to vice-chancellors, Nabukwesi said that the court settled the accreditation tiff and cautioned VCs against burdening parents by passing down other accreditation costs from professional bodies.
“I urge all universities to work with one regulator and that is CUE,” said Nabukwesi.
THE STANDARD By
Editorial |
December 18th 2020 at 02:00:00 GMT +0300
University of Nairobi graduates during the varsity s 62nd graduation ceremony in Nairobi today. [Courtesy, UoN]
The supremacy battles between the Commission for University Education (CUE) and professional bodies over accreditation and setting standards for university courses is worrying and likely to bring confusion unless urgently controlled.
Whereas both the High Court and the Court of Appeal have ruled that CUE is the only mandated body to regulate the standards and accredit courses in consultation with individual universities, some professional associations have defied this and gone ahead to issue accreditation.
This should not be the case considering that there are laws, rules and regulations as provided in Section 5 of the Universities (Amendment) Act 2016.
THE STANDARD
EDUCATION
Commission for University Education chairman prof. Chacha Nyaigotti. [File, Jenipher Wachie, Standard]
The universities regulator has dismissed attempts by the Council for Legal Education (CLE) to list institutions they claim to have accredited to offer law, saying a court had settled the matter.
Commission for University Education (CUE) Chairperson Chacha Nyaigoti asked students and the institutions administrators to ignore any publication on academic courses accreditation, saying the role to accredit and approve courses was theirs.
“We inspect, approve and accredit all academic programmes in universities and any person purporting to usurp that role is mistaken because even the courts have affirmed that fact,” said Prof Chacha.
Nevertheless, even before the pandemic, the education sector was facing stiff competition from Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and this was because the courses are flexible, and convenient for both employees and employers. “The increased uptake of online courses will only increase post-pandemic and most learning institutions are restructuring their course offerings to include online degree courses,” she noted.
Mr Paul Kasimu, FIHRM, Chief Human Resources Officer at Safaricom PLC reiterated her words highlighting that the fourth industrial revolution has accelerated during the pandemic and it is challenging organizations to think critically about how they invest in talent development in order to be ‘future-ready’ for the next global disruption.
USIU gets approval to offer first online master’s degree in Kenya
Friday December 11 2020
By LYNET IGADWAH
The Commission for University Education (CUE) has granted the United States International University (USIU) approval to offer Kenya’s first online master’s programme.
The Online Masters of Business Administration (MBA) incorporates 15 course modules that will be delivered across five semesters at a fee of Sh1 million for East African students.
Remote teaching has become the preferred mode of instruction amid the Covid-pandemic that discourages social gatherings and that led to school closures.
“African universities have no choice but to adopt digital transformation and develop curriculum that integrate skills relevant to the 21st century,” said USIU vice chancellor Tiyambe Zeleza.