The Commission of University Education (CUE) released a report raising concerns about PhD degrees awarded by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). The report arose out of an investigation following the 33rd graduation ceremony at the institution whereat 118 PhDs were awarded in various disciplines.
The report was critical of the PhD process and made several findings and recommendations, including the need for an audit by the Senate of JKUAT of the PhDs awarded by the Institution at the last graduation ceremony and to report back to the CUE within three months. The report has received wide publicity in the media.
While the exact details of this case will still be subject to further analysis and deliberations, there are fundamental issues that it raises that require the collective reflection of the country and especially those in the higher education sector.
Over the past few years, there have been deliberate and strategic reforms in the education sector. First, were the changes to the examination processes as superintended by the Kenyan National Examinations Council (KNEC). The effect of those changes was a reduction in the inordinate high pass rates that had become the hallmark of both primary and secondary exams in the country.
Second, is the ongoing roll out of the competence-based curriculum. These changes are dealing with the formative and second level of the education system. They should go a long way in ensuring credibility and quality of our education. However, higher education has not been given as much attention as is necessary, as the case of JKUAT demonstrate.
Several months ago, this column recalled the criticisms of the reforms to higher education as captured by Prof Mahmood Mamdani in his book ‘‘Scholars in the Market Place: The Dilemmas of Neo-Liberal Reform at Makerere University, 1989-2005.’’ In the book, the professor complained about the impact of the equivalent of our parallel degree programmes in Kenya.
Originally intended to help expand access to university education, their unintended consequence in Kenya, just as in Makerere, has been to commercialise education. As a result, quality has been sacrificed.
In the wake of reduced capitation from government, universities began to explore means of raising own revenue. The parallel degree programmes became a useful and easy source of money. The more students you admitted the more revenue you got. Additionally, the more students a university graduated, the more attractive it became to prospective candidates. As a result, many university administrators invested their energies in ensuring that as many students as possible graduated in the least period irrespective of the rigour of their studies.
Concerns about the need to ensure greater focus on quality was rebuffed with revenue implications. This is not to justify slow processes but to point to the danger of commercialization without concomitant systems to guarantee quality.
The expansion in the numbers of those admitted was not accompanied with an equal expansion in the numbers of teaching staff. When the government placed a moratorium on hiring of public servants, the situation even became grimmer. So, while CUE has guidelines on the number of postgraduate students that lecturers should supervise, the rule is largely met in breach. JKUAT may be on the spotlight now, but it sure is not the only one falling foul of this rule.
In addition, the culture of obsession with academic papers at all costs has also led the country to the current situation. Several years ago, PhD degrees were a preserve of a few. Currently, almost everybody wants to study and earn a PhD. This on the face it, means that the country is becoming more literate.
However, when the quest for higher education is not due to the need to increase one’s knowledge but just to acquire another degree, its impact quickly becomes negative. In such an environment, people will do all they can, including taking shortcuts to acquire the papers. The quality of education becomes sacrificed at the altar of expediency.
When the market then complaints about the quality of graduates being churned out, it is not enough to bury one’s head in the sand and pretend all is well.
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