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The University of Nairobi (UoN) has launched a radical transformation process. As other public universities dither at the banks of the creek, UoN vice-chancellor Prof Gitahi Kiama has taken the plunge.

UoN is instituting radical measures to reorganise itself and make it much leaner in a bid to eliminate duplication, cut costs and improve governance. Prof. Kiama appreciated very quickly that public universities in Kenya either undertake drastic reforms or they perish. He has been in office for barely a year.

Universities have atrophied in Kenya and have become dinosaurs, little more than glorified high schools where students continue the rote learning of their formative years in primary and secondary school that’s only geared towards passing exams.

They then come to swell the number of unemployed graduates. Little research or academic scholarship is going on. Something must give.

The brick and mortar model universities have been running on is now exhausted. Universities have been on a spree of building physical infrastructure and expanding student numbers.

Consequently, their staff numbers have grown, making universities unwieldy, and using up most of their resources on salaries and contractors. No money is left for the core business of universities- research, publishing and scholarship.

There’s a new crisis. Out of the 144,000 students who qualified to go to university in 2021, a whopping 20,000  have chosen Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) institutions instead.

University education in Kenya has become so degraded that the youth are shunning it. Something is very broken in the system.

Those numbers represent a whole year’s intake for several public and private universities.

Given this grim situation, one would have expected that the Ministry of Education would be the biggest champion of universities that have decided to bite the bullet to reverse the rot.

Instead, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has opted to become the biggest stumbling block. In one stroke of a pen, he has halted these reforms.

Communication, consultation and engagement should be the hallmarks of scholars.

Legalese and long-winded letters do not fall under such category. High-handed and authoritarian models of communication are unbecoming of academics and intellectuals. 

Prof. Kiama has not made a secret of his reforms. He has been all over explaining himself, and undertaken internal consultations before adoption of the reforms by the University Council.

The Ministry cannot just wake up one morning when rollout of the reforms are in full swing, and take a sledgehammer to them. One could open themselves to accusations of being capricious, or worse. 

Magoha needs to become the key change agent in universities and give full backing to reforms.

He must put in place an environment that will be supportive of vice chancellors who embark on what is going to be a very difficult and painful task. 

Universities do not have time. These reforms are long overdue. The Cabinet Secretary should encourage universities that are still in slumber to follow the UoN lead. Other vice chancellors should be taking notes.

Indeed, it would help if the CS established a university reform council at his ministry, where vice chancellors and chairpersons of councils meet regularly to deliberate, exchange ideas and learn from one another on just one challenge – transformation of universities.

That way, the Ministry gets an opportunity to input, influence and keep tabs on how university education is evolving. Engagement, not disruption.

A word about the university fee increase controversy. Universities are broke and the government has no money to bail them out.

Their only avenue to raise revenue to meet their financial obligations and pay their hardcore debts is raising fees.

That’s the harsh reality.  The discussion right now should be about scholarships, endowment funds and government guaranteed loans for students to enable them pay fees. 

Universities are in a very bad place. Years of misgovernance, unbridled expansion and financial profligacy have brought Kenya to this very unhappy place.

Sadly, the way back from the brink will be harsh, nasty and brutish. Brace Kenyans.Brace! —[email protected]