A body with representatives from all public universities in Kenya has expressed concern over mushrooming universities and middle level colleges in the country, at the expense of quality education.
Speaking to the media at a Kisumu Hotel on Monday, the university dons under their body, Education Management Society of Kenya (EMSK) said this hinges on the government university expansion policy, adding that universities are complex centres of higher learning and that should not be set up without proper planning.
“The society is beginning to suffer from poor quality graduates emerging from both public and private universities being set up in every market centre,” said Prof Theodore Ayodo, the body's chairman.
He took issue with poor quality instructors, inadequate facilities and equipment terming those grave issues affecting institutions of higher learning.
EMSK demanded that the government rethinks the meaning of university education and its effects to the society as a whole.
The university dons accused the government of continuously under funding research which they said is almost dead in all universities under the watch of government.
“The government has continued to inadequately finance university education, hence universities are constrained to even meet their financial obligations,” said the professor.
He said the government's policy of financing university education will always come under sharp scrutiny as little is done to achieve desirable results.
“The government should adapt specialisation in financing policy whereby the institutions are funded as per their clustered specialisation,” he said.