Our University: Ethnicity, Higher Education and the Quest for State Legitimacy in Kenya

Munene, Ishmael I.

doi:10.1057/hep.2012.18

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…But Siringi and Letting (2016) argue that government controlled appointments of senior officers of public universities are informed more by ethnic and political orientations rather than meritocracy. This, they argue, is evident in public universities in Kenya where most VCs belong to ethnic communities where these universities' main campuses reside and in addition often support the government which appointed them (Munene, 2012). Thus the way public universities in Kenya are managed is often perceived to be more pro-status quo of the incumbent government and against the students' interests.…”

Section: Public Universities In Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Unrest in Public Universities in Kenya: The Nexus between Principles of Governance and Student Leadership

Okeyo¹

2017

ESJ

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Student unrest has been a major problem in Kenya for the government, public universities, the community, society, and even students themselves for several decades. However, the student leaders, majority of who are undergraduates in their late teens to early twenties, lack governance and leadership skills and experience. This study focused on principles of governance and leadership among student leaders in public universities. The study was anchored on positivist research philosophy and adopted a cross sectional design. The target population was all the 35 public universities in Kenya and data was collected from 70 student chairpersons and their deputies. Data was mainly collected from primary source using structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and regression analysis. The study established that student leaders exhibited both performance and accountability principles of governance albeit weakly. The study however found no significant relationship between and student leadership and governance principles of legitimacy and voice; direction; and fairness. This study thus concludes that when student leaders are articulating their fellow students' issues, the leaders are guided by responsiveness, effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, and information flow. The leaders however lack appreciation for rule of law; equity; consensus orientation and mediation; as well as long-term strategic vision for the student body. The study therefore recommends that public universities should immediately train all incumbent student leaders on leadership concepts and principles of governance. However as a long-term measure, universities should introduce curriculums on principles of governance and leadership concepts contextualized to undergraduate students' area of study.

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Section: Public Universities In Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Unrest in Public Universities in Kenya: The Nexus between Principles of Governance and Student Leadership

Okeyo¹

2017

ESJ

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“…The result is that curriculum was unfit for the needs and demands of industry therefore limiting Kenya's ability to compete globally. The society was unable to cope efficiently with the world and could not transcend existing knowledge to usher progress in the educational systems (Kinyanjui, 2007;Munene, 2013;Odhiambo, 2011;Ojiambo, 2009).…”

Section: Statement Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, the government was unable to meet its objective of creating an entrepreneurial workforce that would start businesses and create products and jobs, both essential for national development and growth. Students produced by the current higher education systems do not possess precision and moral discipline and do not have the required work ethic to compete in a modern, industrial, and technological world (Kinyanjui, 2007;Munene, 2013;Odhiambo, 2011;Ojiambo, 2009). Therefore, the higher education product is unable to feed the labor market or support the needs of government and society.…”

Section: Statement Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2008, the government instituted reforms in the education sector at all levels. Since then, the education sector continues to suffer from political interference through presidential decrees and political rhetoric that has replaced established policy-making systems (Munene, 2013;Sifuna, 2012). The Head of State was the chancellor of all public universities with the power to appoint or terminate a vice chancellor's services.…”

Section: Historical and Governance Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the majority of university council members were nominees of the Head of State compromising council members' objectivity in overseeing the management of these institutions. Government involvement in universities stifled autonomy and academic freedom limiting scholarly research interests and general management of public universities and negatively affecting university leaders' ability to make decisions that would positively affect the quality of higher education in public universities (Munene, 2013;Sifuna, 2012).…”

Section: Historical and Governance Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Untitled

2015

SUET

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University education is the epitome of education that countries leverage for the delivery of national strategic plans, through the creation of skilled workforce for socio-economic development. Kenyan public universities have experienced massification in the past three decades, a phenomenon resulting from the democratization of education, the advent of knowledge economy, and globalization. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the consequences of massification caused Juakalization in higher education in Kenya. Juakalization is the dilution and conversion of high quality university education to assume an artisan nature of mass production of low quality and unstandardized educational product. The study used a systematic review of literature and public documents to analyze the consequences of massification in Kenya's higher education. Findings indicate that the consequences of massification of overcapacity and insufficient infrastructure led to mass production of a low quality non-standardized university product. The researcher compares the Kenyan Jua Kali artisan production process to that of higher education, where both work under adverse conditions to produce mass low quality products. This analogy acts as a metaphor to describe the dilution and conversion of higher education to that of artisanship and coins the term Juakalization to describe this process in higher education.

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Negotiating the marketization of higher education in East Africa: a comparative analysis of Tanzania and Kenya

Provini

2018

High Educ

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Since the 2000s, the literature on the ongoing higher education reforms in Africa has been increasing. The scientific discussion converges in an implicit and recurrent argument about the drivers of these policies. Given the involvement of international experts in the policy design, university reforms are often described as the output of the incentives of international stakeholders and the representatives of international organizations. The aim of this paper is to add a new variable to understand higher education reforms in East Africa, which has been neglected by scholars. In fact, the article sheds light on the determining role of domestic actors in the (re)negotiation of policy processes in Tanzania and Kenya, especially administrative and academic staff and students. Rather than evaluating the success or the failure of the reforms, this paper aims to highlight the power plays between a various set of domestic actors who reshape the outcomes of higher education policies. The paper crosses the experiences from the reform processes of the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

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Our University: Ethnicity, Higher Education and the Quest for State Legitimacy in Kenya

Cited by 18 publications

References 12 publications

Student Unrest in Public Universities in Kenya: The Nexus between Principles of Governance and Student Leadership

Student Unrest in Public Universities in Kenya: The Nexus between Principles of Governance and Student Leadership

Untitled

Negotiating the marketization of higher education in East Africa: a comparative analysis of Tanzania and Kenya

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