By Anyango Sylvia
The commission for university education (CUE) officially launched the 4th biennial three-day conference centered on research and innovation on 12th June 2024.
The conference which is being held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) brings together innovative researchers from different universities across the country with the ambition of embracing research projects that attracts sponsors and generates income.
Each university had at least a project to showcase ahead of the informative discussions expected to continue for the next three days.
The Cabinet secretary for education, Ezekiel Machogu, who graced the launch of the conference expressed confidence in Kenya’s university education highlighting the significance of having quality assurance audits conducted to universities in order to meet international standards.
“Our university must work with greater efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of their core mandate. Indeed to merge the world class universities, we must step up to ensure that we produce output and outcomes that are critical to our nation’s knowledge based and innovative capacity” said Machogu.
“I am confident that our universities are a bash of knowledge and talent. The research and innovation exhibition will offer a tangible testament to the ingenuity and dedication present within our universities.” added PS higher education and research, Beatrice Inyangala.
Machogu further assured that the government had allocated 2% as national research fund to bolster university research programs.
Despite this, CS Machogu urged researchers to commercialize their projects in order to increase their income generation capacity so as to boost the country’s economy.
“More fundamentally we should create knowledge and scientific breakthrough that supports long term economic growth as envisaged under the bottom up economic transformation,” he said.
These sentiments were fully supported by the deputy vice-chancellor (research, innovation and outreach) of Kenyatta University, prof. Caroline Thoruwa.
“Really it’s an excellent learning opportunity for all of us. We can learn what different institutions are doing. Even interested industries can actually learn what the universities and our students are capable of producing. There are lots of new innovations that actually have a place in the market,” the DVC said
CUE official mandate is to make better provisions for the advancement of quality university education in Kenya, which entails regulating and accrediting universities and universities academic programs, among other functions.
“The commission plays a vital role in approving university programs, ensuring a robust academic environment that fosters a cutting edge research and knowledge creation.” said prof. Chacha Nyaigotti, the CUE chairman.
However, the government has been urged to increase the level of funding for universities as part of cue’s efforts to improve the quality of university education.
This is even as universities are faced with the challenge of integrating the use of technology and AI in research.