RUTO WORKING HARD

The government is considering reintroducing a double intake to public universities like it did in 1987 to rid the country of the current back-log of students waiting to be admitted to public universities.

Higher Education Minister William Ruto said Thursday that the current back-log is undermining the quality of education and perpetuating inequality.

"The long wait many children have to undergo as they await admission into the public universities is causing much concern to the government. It also making many Kenyans seek education elsewhere leading to capital flight as Kenyans pay high fees in those countries," said Ruto.

Ruto who was moved to the new ministry last week in a cabinet reshuffle was speaking after inaugurating the new commissioners of the Commission for Higher Education at the Commission's headquarters in Gigiri.

He said the two year delay in universities' intake is confounding children from poor families to deprivation of their right to accessing quality education.

He said the government is also working on establishing an "Open Universities system" which will enable students taking humanities to learn through distance learning.

This he said will help to decongest the institutions of higher learning and give more room to those taking practical subjects.

The Minister said he is working at creating the much needed synergy at his new ministry in order to achieve better results.

"We shall not allow political noise to interfere with my zest to see the much needed results achieved at my new posting, however the success of any institution does not depend on an individual but on all the stakeholders involved," he said.

The Minister said the Universities Act is set for a repeal and replaced with one that elaborates the mandate of the Commission, expands the scope and depth of its work.

"All universities authorized to operate in Kenya shall be regulated and quality assured by the Commission for Higher Education under the new law," he directed.

The Minister said in order to reassure the public on delivery of quality education for Kenyans, all university will now have to set up internal quality assurance systems that are benchmarked on against proven best practices both locally and internationally.