Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has insisted that the merger of universities is on course. While addressing media practitioners in Nairobi, Magoha said that the process of opposing the merger of Universities is long overdue.
The CS insisted that the merger of universities is meant to improve the quality of education. The remarks of the CS comes after vice-chancellors of public universities citing financial crisis.
Magoha affirmed that he was asked by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is completing his second and final term in office, to ensure that the universities are merged to promote education.
“I was given instructions by President Kenyatta after my appointment that no more new universities. We must bring sanity in the university education sector,” Prof Magoha told the meeting, as quoted Daily Nation.
He asked the VCs to find a good merger plan to ensure that the process is smooth. He also dismissed the idea that it is not the priority of the government to merge universities.
The VCs of 31 public universities have been pushing for the Ministry to increase the number of Universities to 1000 before 2030. They claim that by that time, the number of students joining campus would have increased to more than one million.
The dons have insisted that the merger of these universities is not a good idea as far as the promotion of the education sector is concerned.