Kenya's university education faces a dilemma of increased demand for places against declining funding and increased graduate unemployment. The introduction of cost sharing, in an environment of increased poverty levels and inadequate educational loans and bursaries, has further aggravated matters. This article presents findings of a case study on 50 university students involved in small business ventures in an attempt to cope with their financial situations. The study sought to find out the characteristics of student entrepreneurs, reasons for entry into business and how they coped with studies while operating businesses. The study shows that most of the respondents came from humble backgrounds and ran business mainly for survival. These results have useful implications on the effects of Structural Adjustment Programmes in financing university education in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.

There has been an increased interest in informal sector business activities. One of the major concerns has been the cognitive abilities of the participants of this sector, especially in view of the liberalised and highly competitive nature of business operations today. This paper presents and discusses findings of a study on measuring Business Skills Cognition among informal sector business owners. Data were collected from 208 respondents distributed over nine trading centres in both urban and rural Kenya. Business Skills Cognition was measured using three instruments to yield a continuum of scores ranging from 45 to 265 points. It was found that informal sector business owners differ in the various dimensions of business and in Business Skills Cognition. The findings are important in evaluating the usefulness of the informal sector in employment creation and the ability of the participants to earn a comparative advantage in an increasingly complex and competitive free market system.

Abstract

One of the expected utilitarian values of education is the development of competencies for effective business practice after school. This article presents findings of a study on the effect of education on Business Skills Cognition among indigenous microscale business owners in Kenya. Data were collected from 208 respondents using an interview schedule, observation schedule and checklist. Business Skills Cognition as the dependent quantitative variable was measured using five broad dimensions of business practice to yield a continuum of scores ranging from a minimum of 45 to a maximum of 265 points. Results from chi-square, and One Way Analysis of Variance showed that the association between education levels, and Business Skills Cognition was positive and significant. The article discusses the implication of these findings for education delivery and training for enterprise development in Kenya and any other society that is keen on the utilitarian values of education.

Transnational Education has gained momentum under the auspices of the General Agreement on Trade in Services administered by World Trade Organizations which have provided for successful marketing of higher education across borders. This paper reviews past research, discussions and analyses on the topic on a global perspective. The objectives are to establish the rationale for transnational education, emerging issues over the providers, mode of supply, the potential of the market and issues on curriculum and pedagogy. Past research reveals that transnational education is anchored on economic, political, cultural and educational rationales. The global market for transnational education is asymmetrical where some nations are exporters (UK, US, Australia), and others importers (Africa, Latin America and Central Asia). The modes of provision include cross-border supply, commercial presence and presence of natural persons. The potential of the market is growing -commercial presence being dominant. The emerging issues include competition, differences in pedagogical practices, loss of nations and learner autonomy, control and self-respect of higher education, confusions on qualifications and transfer of academic credits, escalated costs, commercialization of knowledge as a commodity, dominant language (largely English) used as a medium of communication, and de-contextualization of the national curriculum. Quality assurance and accreditation are also at stake since the national/states capacity for regulating the supply of transnational education is limited. Though discussions on transnational education are on-going, stakeholders need to work with governments, non-governmental organizations, Higher Education Institutions and regulators to improve the future of transnational education, including developing an acceptable code of conduct.