Former presidential candidate Prof James Ole Kiyiapi has weighed in on the prospect of merging public universities as proposed by Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Prof Kiyiapi argued that Kenya doesn't need the mergers.
Prof Kiyiapi contended that there's no provision for mergers in the University Act. He called for the harmonisation of programmes rather than mergers of universities in a bid to ensure that programmes offered are not duplicated.
"We DO NOT need UNIVERSITY MERGERS. One, because there is NO such provision in the University Act. Rather, EVERY university should RIGHT-SIZED, HARMONIZE academic programmes, and remove or reduce DUPLICATION of programmes among universities. Key: QUALITY and RELEVANCE!" Prof Kiyiapi wrote.
Education CS Prof Magoha made the case for the mergers in Naivasha on Wednesday when he addressed education stakeholders.
He said that the mergers would go a long way in ensuring that quality standards go up.
Prof Magoha decried the decline of education standards in public universities and called for a paradigm shift of how things are done.
Mergers would mean a significant reduction in the number of universities in the country and a more centralised higher education system going forward.
Tens of thousands of students graduate from universities annually.