The Commission for University Education (CUE) has rejected 133 courses offered in more than 20 Kenyan universities for being useless, shallow in scope, and unmarketable.
This means that approximately 10,000 students absorbed in the various universities might be forced to discontinue the courses, and the academic papers for those who have already graduated may not be recognized by prospective employers.
The commission is supposed to approve the various courses offered by Kenyan universities, however, the 133 identified have been termed as a way of making money with no career prospects.
The findings follow a CUE audit of the Kenyan universities carried out in 2018 in readiness for the 2019 placement.
According to the report, it was noted that many universities seem concerned about huge enrollment, and have given inaccurate details about their actual capacity, their resources, and the teaching staff solely for the purposes of minting cash.
Data from The Standard indicate that close to 30,000 openings in the universities have been removed by the CUE.
The Commission reported that only 134,075 of the 163,925 declared available capacity for public and private universities were approved.
List of Fake Degree Courses Rejected by CUE
Some of the 133 courses scrapped by Commission of University Education include:
- Bachelor of Art (Homescience)
- Bachelor of science in Aerospace Sciences in Logistics
- Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Sciences in Piloting
- Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Security
- Leadership and Health Services Management
- Clinical Nutrition
- Public Health Nutrition
- Community Health and Development
- Bachelor of arts (history)
- Bachelor of Maritime Management
- Bachelor of Aviation Management
- Bachelor in Agricultural Economics
- Sc. (Biochemistry)
- Sc. (Botany)
- Sc. (Chemistry)
- Sc. (Mathematics)
- Sc. (Physics)
- Sc. (Zoology)
- BSc in Agricultural Biotechnology
- BSc in Agricultural Extension Education
- BSc in Science (Rural Sociology)
- BSc in Seed Science
- BSc in Soil Science
- BSc in Irrigation and Land Use Management
- BSc in Crop Production
- BSc in Food nutrition
- BSc in Dry Lands and Sustainable Agriculture
- BSc in Management
- BSc international Diplomacy
- BSc Community Health
- BA Economics
- BA Political science
- BA Banking and Finance
- BA Religion
- BA Real Estate Management
- BA Tourism
- BA Hospitality Management
- Bsc Range Land and Wildlife Management
- Bsc Peace Science
- Bsc Leather and Textile Technology
- BSc Linguistics
- BA Anthropology
- Bsc Sport Science
- BA Mass Communication
- Life science
- BA Marriage Counselling.
- BA Conflict Management
- BA Front Office Management
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Universities and the Respective Number of Courses Rejected
The hardest hit among the universities is Tom Mboya University College. It was noted that the school has 25 useless courses. Others include:
- Garissa University – 10
- Alupe University College – 10
- Kenya Highlands Evangelical University – 7
- Lukenya University – 6
- Kisii University – 5
- Kenyatta University – 4
- Dedan Kimathi University of Technology – 4
- Moi University – 3
- Kabarak University – 2
Other universities have also been busted for offering programs that weren’t approved by their respective senates. There are also those given a go-ahead by the CUE but have no enrollment so far. Universities with questionable courses include:
- University of Embu – 6
- Turkana University College – 5
- The East African University – 4
- Technical University of Mombasa – 2
- University of East African Baraton – 2
- Karatina University – 4
- Great Lake University of Kisumu – 8
- African University – 3
- Bomet University College – 1
- Catholic University of East Africa – 2
- Co-Operative University of Kenya – 3
- Gretsa University – 1
- Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Institute of Science and Technology – 6
- Kenya Methodist University – 2
CUE has warned against the placement of students in each of the courses identified in the universities. It also follows that the three courses rejected at Mama Ngina University are as a result of the institution not being an accredited university college.
Alupe University College will see no enrollment as all the courses offered have been rejected by the Commission.
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Concerns
According to Vice Chancellors who spoke with The Standard, CUE is being insensitive considering how most of the programs are already being taught. They said that the decision to exclude the courses will set students against the universities.
“These programmes have students studying in higher classes. Why is CUE trying to set up universities against students? This is unacceptable. There are better ways of engaging universities,” one VC said.
Mwenda Ntarangwi, CUE Chief Executive Officer, however, offered reassurance that the commission is still deliberating on the appropriate actions to be taken following the matter.
“This is still an ongoing process and we are in consultation with universities,” said Prof Ntarangwi.
Some of the programs rejected are those offered without CUE approval, others are duplicates, and in some instances, there are no sufficient capacities to teach the programs.
The decision to purge the courses wasn’t unexpected as the Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed had already forewarned.
The CS, while speaking at Aga Khan University last week, had noted that the Commission for University Education was reviewing the depth and substance of university programs to eliminate unit duplication and shallow course content.
An audit report recently released shows that several institutions have diluted the quality of tertiary learning by introduces many courses which narrow the scope of careers and are not marketable.
CUE in its 2016 Status of Higher Education Report found that Kenya’s public and private universities had a total of 1,627 Bachelor’s, 1,162 masters, and 518 doctoral degrees as well as 96 postgraduate diploma programs.
Another 2018 report shows massive irregularities on the various courses taught in the universities. It was indicated that there were myriad mounted courses that had no students.
“Some of the universities offered academic programs and did not provide evidence of approval of programs by respective senates while others had programs approved by CUE but had no students,” said the report.
It was also found out that the universities had renamed a significant number of courses.
Meanwhile, members of Parliament are meeting on Friday to discuss the status of tertiary education in Kenya encompassing the issues surrounding unaccredited courses.
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