Upgrade of polytechnics to universities faulted at talks
What you need to know:
Delegates said the move would lead to a shortage of mechanical and other practical skills.
They are being converted to help enrol the high number meeting the minimum university entry points.
The debate on the wisdom of upgrading technical institutes to university colleges was rekindled Wednesday at a careers and mentorship conference.
Delegates said the move would lead to a shortage of mechanical and other practical skills.
Isaac Maragia, an entrepreneur, said that the government’s policy to support the conversion of institutions such as Kenya Science Teachers College, Utalii College and Kenya Polytechnic was contributing to a mismatch of skills in the country.
“Kenyans are getting trained and becoming unemployed because of a mismatch of skills and career choices. You wonder why the government would support converting Utalii College into a university,” said Dr Maragia.
Minimum entry points
He cited the Kenya Polytechnic, now a university college, that used to produce “good artisans and engineers, people who were doing critical jobs; now they are giving degrees which are more theoretical.”
Technical colleges such as Kimathi Institute of Technology, Mombasa Polytechnic, Kenya Polytechnic have been transformed into university colleges.
They are being converted to help enrol the high number meeting the minimum university entry points.
“Universities are not the solution. Our education system is the problem. In other countries, not everybody goes to university,” said Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Information and Communications PS who delivered the key note speech.
“We should not kill tertiary institutions,” Dr Ndemo said.
The Economic Survey 2012 says 410,586 candidates sat for KCSE exam up from 271,691 students in 2007.
“We must resist the destruction of tertiary institutions,” said Dr Ndemo.
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