Universities May Stop Offering Diploma and Certificate Course
If a suggestion by the reforms team to limit the institutions to just offering degree courses is implemented, universities may suffer yet another setback.
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms wants all universities to be prohibited from offering diploma and certificate programmes, according to our team.
Members of the task committee appear to be divided on the issue, with some arguing that all certificate and diploma programmes fit under higher education.
And both universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges can teach these subjects. However, it is true that these TVETs cannot instruct degree-level courses, according to a senior taskforce member.
Others countered that the majority of universities include middle colleges that would be included in the TVET division.
A proposal to “limit universities from offering certificates and diploma courses” was floated, according to education stakeholders present at a validation meeting on June 6, 2023 at the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMSATEA).
This proposal would institute a modification to Section 20 (1) (e) of the Universities Act if it were to be approved.
Additionally, this level of academic qualifications will only be taught and given out by middle level colleges if approved by Parliament and the president.
The issue of whether universities should be permitted to offer certificates and diploma programmes was already decided in court twice, in 2015 and 2021. The proposal again reignites that discussion.
The Kenya National Association of Private Colleges (Kenapco) made an initial attempt in 2015 to oppose the change, but it was unsuccessful in the High Court, paving the door for universities to award the degrees.
According to a petition filed by Kenapco with the High Court, they are the organisations authorised under the Technical and Vocational Training Authority (Tiveta) Act to offer diplomas, certificates, and bridging courses.
All universities are permitted to provide diploma and certificate programmes, according to section 20 (1) (e) of the University Amendment Act of 2014.
All public and private universities were permitted to enrol students to degrees under the modified statute, including postgraduate degrees and “other academic certificates.”
Additionally, the institutes were permitted to admit students to degree programmes, including honorary degrees and postgraduate degrees.
These were the adjustments made to the Universities Act of 2012 in an effort to make certain sections of the Charter clearer.
Universities were previously only permitted to grant degrees, including honorary degrees, under Section 20 of the Universities Act.
In their action, Kenapco asserted that universities, which are governed by the Commission of University Education (CUE) and the Ministry of Education, had infringed upon their business by delivering illegal courses that were in the form of certificates, diplomas, and bridging courses.
The lawsuit included an injunction against the National Association of Private Universities of Kenya (Napuk).
Jacob Kaimenyi, then the cabinet secretary for education, backed the proposal to limit universities to exclusively delivering undergraduate and graduate degree programmes, arguing that middle level colleges should continue to offer certificates and diploma programmes.
In court documents, the group claimed that the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No. 18 of 2014, which amended the Universities Act (2012), violated their rights.
The revisions, according to Kenapco, were approved and signed into law without any stakeholder input or engagement.
They contended that, “…in particular, the amendment to section 20 (1) (e) as it was enacted without proper public participation by the people of Kenya including the petitioner…,”
The petitioner asked for a ban on colleges marketing, advertising, promoting, and/or giving diplomas, certificates, and bridging courses in their prayers.
The case brought by Kenapco, a lobby group with more than 200 member institutions in the Republic of Kenya, was dismissed by Justice Lenaola.
CUE, which backed the Kenapco action, claimed that the 2014 law undermined its capacity to effectively continue carrying out its purpose as the regulator of university education.
“The amendments were introduced on the floor of the National Assembly and passed instantly without any consultation with the public or pertinent stakeholders and in defiance of the Speaker’s judgement to the contrary,” CUE claimed.
Additionally, CUE claimed that by depriving colleges of the right to fair competition, the amendment discriminated against them while favouring universities, undermining the commercial viability of colleges.
The Technical and Vocational Training Authority Act and the Universities Act are in direct conflict because the amendments gave universities the authority to directly offer diploma and certificate programmes, which are and should be the domain of Technical and Vocational Training Colleges, CUE claimed.
However, the discussion did not end there. The administration made frantic attempts in 2018 to diffuse growing unrest in universities.
Just three years had passed since the decision of Justice Lenaola.
At the time, there was a heated discussion about whether or not higher education institutions should offer certificate and diploma studies.
In September 2018, a high-level meeting was called, and it was revealed that section 20 (1) (e) of the statute requires colleges to teach certificates and diplomas.
Attending the conference were senior representatives of the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), Technical Vocational Education and Training.
Officials from the Curriculum Development, Assessment and Certification Council and Kenya Universities and Colleges Placement Service (KUCCPS) were also present.
Later it was revealed that allegations that the credentials provided by some schools were not uniform were the driving force behind the third attempt to strip universities of their authority.
In fact, it turned out that some graduates had only put in a few hours of academic study time.
The State Department of Vocational and Technical Education’s (TVET) Principal Secretary at the time, Kevit Desai, stated that the government had no plans to prevent institutions from awarding certificates and diplomas.
“Universities are permitted to teach diplomas by law. However, we are adamant that they hold a Technical Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) accreditation, said Desai.
However, according to Desai, in order for the programmes offered to meet the requirements established by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), they must be governed by the appropriate authorities.
Despite the government’s assurances, a second lawsuit was filed in 2021 asking the court to declare Act 8 of 2014, the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment), to be unconstitutional.
The Robinson Kioko lawsuit, which would have prevented colleges from offering certificates and diplomas, was dismissed by the High Court of Nairobi.
In his court documents, Kioko stated that opening universities to offer courses that should be taught in technical colleges and institutes did not address the need for a technical workforce in the nation.
According to Justice James Makau’s ruling, the law is explicit regarding the qualifications each student must meet in order to enrol in certificate programmes and beyond, as well as the number of hours they must have studied.
The judge contends that without the necessary prerequisites and allotted time for each course, the law does not grant educational institutions the authority to award diplomas or even permit advancement to the next level.
According to Justice Makau, “This is not intended for all intents and purposes and intention to be used to permit Universities in Kenya to offer Bridging, or Certificate, or Diploma and Certificates courses contrary to clear provisions; of University Act on the legibility of a student to be admitted for undergraduate, or post graduate diploma, masters, and Doctorate Programmes.”
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2014 did not in any way permit universities to provide certificates that would allow pupils to be admitted to the university, he said.
Prof. George Maghoha, the cabinet secretary for education, pleaded with the court to dismiss the matter on the grounds that Justice Isaac Lenaola, who is now a judge on the Supreme Court, had also rendered a decision in it in 2017.
Universities May Stop Offering Diploma and Certificate Course
