Status of the Higher Agricultural Education Sector in Kenya: A sector at crossroads

Higher Education in Kenya is bedeviled with many problems due to its fast growth both in number of universities and population of students. Additionally there have been concerns that graduates from these institutions are of poor quality. The Government has tried a number of recommendations but it has not solved the problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of HE in Kenya with special reference to Agriculture and recommend further action to rectify the situation. An inception meeting was organized and questionnaires administered to institutions who did not attend. It was observed that most public and private universities have agricultural programs ailing from similar challenges. These challenges range from inadequate capital funding, limited student scholarships, inadequate trained staff to curricula that do not satisfy the labour market requirements. Most of the curricula are similar, delivered in ill-equipped laboratories and lecture halls, and due to large student numbers theoretical aspects dominate. The Universities Act 2012 brought all these universities under one Act and created institutions to proper regulate university education and improves the quality of the products thereof. However, the Commission for University Education (CUE) and Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) function below expectations due to inadequate funding; and so is Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). The Universities Fund and Universities Funding Board are yet to be formed or operationalized to source for funds. In order to encourage timely degree completion and improve the quality of graduates the universities and allied institutions like CUE should be better funded. Quality Assurance aspects should be enforced and more collaboration with other regional Universities and industry encouraged in order to produce labour market - fit graduates.