There is a new welcome development that will open up more chances for students to conveniently access university education. The establishment of the country’s first virtual university is good news, indeed.
President William Ruto will early next month grant a charter to the Open University of Kenya (OUK), which is expected to enrol its first batch of 7,000 students in September. The Commission for University Education (CUE) has approved the new institution as an answer to challenges in the provision of higher education. It will initially be hosted in Nairobi then move to its permanent home in Konza Technopolis, which is being developed as a digital hub, in neighbouring Machakos.
As it establishes itself as the centre for open and distance learning, the OUK will offer degree and diploma courses in cyber security and digital forensics, technology education, data science, statistics, agriculture technology and food system. It should help to build capacity for other public universities in this system that is not only convenient but also cost-effective, providing flexibility in time and place for learning and boosting access to university education using modern technology.
There is, however, a need for the OUK to avoid some of the shortcomings that have afflicted the existing institutions, dragging them into huge debts due to over-establishment and other challenges. It should lead the way in the Digital Age as the world moves away from the analog systems for efficiency.
It should, therefore, not get entangled in the endemic corruption that has seen the debts of other public universities balloon. Its emphasis should be on providing quality education that is relevant in the new world of technology, The university should only offer courses that are globally relevant and strive to produce graduates, which will make a difference in the country’s technological development.
Kenyans need knowledge and technological expertise, not only to ease their operations, but to also protect the people and the country against cybercriminals. This is why this high-tech university deserves the initial funding from the government. However, it should show the way in which the digital world can be harnessed for national development and prosperity.
