Lisa Mukami, 9, takes a picture of Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and former
Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua during the 15th graduation of Kenya Methodist
University on July 18, 2015. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
The fate of thousands of students pursuing engineering courses
or who have graduated hangs in the balance after the professional body
charged with offering practicing certificates made a fresh push to
disown degrees from some universities.
The Engineers
Board of Kenya (ERB) on Friday released a list of universities it
acknowledges as training schools for engineers that excludes Kenyatta
University (KU), Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology
(MMUST), Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) and the Technical
University of Kenya (TUK).
But Kenyatta University is
awaiting three of its course to be accredited and the board is expected
to visit the institution any time now.
The move by the
board implies that thousands of engineering graduates will miss out on
professional accreditation by the EBR, narrowing their chances of
getting jobs.
Only the University of Nairobi, Moi
University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
(JKUAT), Egerton University and Dedan Kimathi University are allowed to
offer specific engineering courses, according to the ERB.
“Accreditation
is based on whether a programme is intellectually credible, coherent
and meets national needs, needs of the students and stakeholders,” the
ERB said on Friday.
“The board will only register those
who have pursued courses it has accredited. In addition it is illegal
for any person who is not registered by this board to offer courses.
Training institutions are, therefore, invited to note that it is illegal
to admit students for purposes of training in any engineering programme
not approved by the board,” it said.
It is not clear
on the reasons for this fresh push to discredit some universities as the
board has been in discussion with the Commission for Higher Education
(COE) since December last year after students from three public
universities went on strike over the disapproval of their courses.
The
Commission had in a list released last month on courses approved to be
offered in Kenyan universities allowed KU, MMUST, TUM and TUK to offer
Engineering degrees which ERB says it does not recognise.
The Commission’s CEO Prof David Some could not be immediately reached for comment.
Matters
have been further complicated after the Federation of Kenya Employers
(FKE) maintained it would prefer graduates who have been approved by the
body.
“If you look at it from the perspective of
students and the universities it looks like it is not fair, but as
employers we are insisting on those who have met the standardisation
policy,” said FKEs boss Jacqueline Mugo.
The decision
by ERB has angered the affected universities and students who accuse it
of discrimination and not considering the needs of the students.
“We
have submitted our reviewed curriculum, hired lecturers and employers
who have our graduates have not complained,” said Bob Mbori the director
of Communications at MMUST.
“No university can be
allowed to offer a course unless it gets Senate approval and from the
COE, so you cannot say that they are not up to standard,” said Dr Mbori.
The Kenya National Universities Students Union termed the move as retrogressive.
“Definitely
we must act. ERB is not looking at students interests because the
matter has been around for so long,” said the union’s chair Babu Owino.
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