Quality of higher education in Kenya: Addressing the conundrum

Abstract

Despite the consensus amongst all stakeholders of the critical need for action in the higher education sector in Kenya, national and institutional drives for quality have had limited impact. This study aims to assess the barriers to enhancing quality in Kenyan higher education, drawing on interviews, observations and documentary analysis as part of a three year study. Three types of barrier are identified in the data: resources (staffing and infrastructure), governance (organisational structures and stakeholder participation) and pedagogical culture (social hierarchies and approaches to teaching, curriculum and assessment). On the basis of these findings, it is argued that a 'threepronged' response is needed: reforms in policy and practice must address simultaneously the material conditions of universities, the forms of institutional organisation, and the cultural relations of teaching and learning.However, there are now widespread concerns that this rapid expansion has led to a degradation of quality, particularly in the lower-income countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The predicament has manifested itself variously in poor physical infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, irrelevant curricula, academic staff without the required qualifications, or moonlighting in multiple institutions (

Effectiveness of Accreditation in Assuring the Quality of Teacher Education Programs: Exploring the Case of an Underdeveloped Country

“…The rapid growth of teacher education institutions increased the importance of quality of education (Darmody & Smyth, 2016). Howbeit, the widespread concerns of teacher education programs bring complications about quality (McCowan, 2018). In Pakistan, Government Colleges for Elementary Teacher, Education, University Departments of Education, University of Education, Government Colleges of Education, and institutes of education and research produce thousands of teachers annually.…”

“…There is no agreed and unidimensional definition of program quality. In this study, it is not targeted to cover multifaced debates on program quality but its association with accreditation and client satisfaction (McCowan, 2018). Besides this, the term "quality of higher education" possess multifaced.…”

“…The effectiveness, efficiency, excellencies, and perfection have been used synonymously for the quality of higher education (Darling-Hammond, 2020). There is considerable debate on how to constitute quality in higher education due to its multidimensional nature (McCowan, 2018;Prisacariu & Shah, 2016). In present, educational outcomes comparison, rankings, university autonomy, and accountability became integral parts to retain the quality of education (Seyfried & Pohlenz, 2018).…”

“…As the educational environment in underdeveloped regions is different from that of developed countries. The quandary of higher education demonstrates with poor infrastructure, overloaded intakes, untrained teachers, irrelevant curricula, and weak production of skilful graduates in underdeveloped countries (McCowan, 2018). This situation dissatisfied the stakeholders including students, parents, and employers (Oketch, 2016).…”

Construction Integrity and Professionalism of Education Personnel

“…The role of education personnel is to assist in managing educational institutions, help plan an educational design, help facilitate educational activities, help secure the educational environment, help create a beautiful and comfortable atmosphere of education [30]. Whereas the education staff function is to guarantee the continuity of an education system, monitor a system in educational institutions, provide facilities to educators and students in carrying out an educational activity, provide comfort and safety in the educational environment, and regulate an educational process in an institution [31].…”