Columnists

Advantages of making higher learning accessible

grads

Today, having a degree has become a necessity even as potential employers fight to retain the most skilled in their ranks. Professional qualifications offered by universities are recognised and respected worldwide, and this means demand for higher education will keep on rising.

According to the US Department of Education, they have a transition rate of 69.2 per cent from high school to university while in Britain, 33.1 per cent qualify for university. In Kenya, the situation is pretty different. The number of Kenyans with at least a single degree stands at a paltry 495,000 out of 42 million.

Only 70,073 students (11.38 per cent) got C+ and above in 2017 with 541,879 students failing to make the cut. More than 75 per cent got D+ and below and therefore did not qualify for direct entry into university. How then can we make higher learning accessible to this group?

One way of increasing opportunity is by developing a clear career progression path for students who failed to gain the minimum entry requirement. Students who scored grades C and C- can join a variety of Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) diploma programmes, which would guarantee them entry to university.

Those with D and D+ could pursue craft qualifications at technical and vocational colleges, giving them an opportunity to pursue diploma, and later degree. Any candidates who scored D- and below or failed to get into high school could then seek entry into University through artisan programmes, craft, diploma and eventually degree.

By introducing such a clear progression paths and engaging stakeholders at all levels opportunities would be widened for candidates currently shut out by the system.

Currently, the country has tens of examining bodies offering essentially beneficial professional qualifications at certificate or diploma level other than KNEC. Hundreds of thousands of students have graduated or enrolled into ACCA, KASNEB, ICM, ICDL, CIM, ABE, ABMA, IHRM, City and Guilds and many other examination bodies. These need to be harmonised, providing yet another career progression route and also enabling graduates to get credit transfers and pursue degree programmes of their choice.

This approach has already been piloted by ACCA which now guarantees entry into accounting degree programs for students with high school grades that wouldn’t have allowed the many where near the gates of a world class university.

If Kenyan universities were to take a similar approach, opportunities for higher education would more than triple within a few years.

Another way of ensuring greater opportunity is encouraging open and distance learning for those unable to attend full time classes on campus.

While many Kenyan universities have taken up open learning as a means of increasing enrolment without need for extra space, it seems to have favoured those pursuing post graduate training as opposed to individuals seeking a first degree. Craft and diploma holders across the country, either working or doing business or otherwise unable to pursue higher education would welcome open learning opportunities being presented their way.

Shilaho wa Muteshi, head of Academic Affairs, Cytonn College of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.