Commission Establishes Committee of Inquiry to audit JKUAT following the conferment of 118 PHDs during their 33 Graduation Ceremony.

The Commission for University Education (CUE) has launched an inquiry into the 118 PhDs awarded by JKUAT during their 33rd graduation ceremony held on 21st June 2019. This was deemed to be a weighty matter that required urgent attention, particularly to assure quality of the PHD awards.

Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua addresses graduands during the 33rd ceremony at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Juja, Kiambu County, on June 21, 2019 (photograph courtesy of The Daily Nation)

The Commission immediately established a Committee of Inquiry to address the issues pertaining to the conferment of PhDs by JKUAT. CUE has met senior staff of JKUAT as well as key staff members of the Board of Postgraduate Studies (BPS) and perused critical documents to establish if due process was followed in the award of these PHDs. The Commission’s team of inquiry has visited JKUAT campuses where most of the PHD training took place and undertaken strategic engagements and site verification visits.

During this process, the Commission has set out to establish whether standard procedures were adhered to in regard to training, research, supervision and examination processes of the said PHDs as stipulated in the Universities Act, 2012; Universities Regulations, 2014 and Universities Standards and Guidelines, 2014.

At the conclusion of the exercise, the Commission will compile a comprehensive report to be submitted to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education and keep the public informed on the same.

This undertaking is part of a broader comprehensive audit on the quality of university education in Kenya, under the guidance of the Education Cabinet Secretary, which encompasses inter-alia:

a)      The quality of doctoral programmes in our universities including student: faculty ratios;

b)      Adequacy of teaching and learning facilities in universities;

c)      Qualifications of faculty in our universities;

d)     Quality of academic programmes offered in our universities;

e)      Financial sustainability in public universities as presently constituted;

f)       Duplication of academic programmes in universities; and

g)      Staffing situation in public universities.

The Commission has engaged universities seeking their input towards the above issues and will use it to develop an advisory to the CS on quality of university education, by 30th July 2019. The Commission has already met with the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education and briefed him on the progress towards achievement of this assignment as well as progress towards establishing authenticity of the JKUAT 118 PHD degrees.