KENYA: New Move to Foster Cross-boarder Education for Regional Integration

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Submitted by IQ4News on Sun, 19/02/2012 - 2:57pm

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga held that quality education holds the key to unlocking the great potential in the East African region.

By Joab Apollo

The East African Community (EAC) is in the process of promoting cross-border quality education in the region to meet growing market needs.

This emerged during the launch of an Education Trust Fund at Great Lakes University, Kisumu, Kenya, on Saturday. The Fund will enable innovative and needy students to advance their education.

Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, hosted Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, at the event that brought together leading intellectual and business figures in East Africa to foster regional integration.

Speaking at the function, President Museveni of Uganda stressed on the need for Universities not only in East Africa, but also in the African continent to offer courses that would meet the industrial needs for development to be realized.

“Universities must produce people who are sure to get a market. It is unfair to the parents and the students themselves if they fail to get jobs,” Museveni said, adding that Universities should provide career guidance to students before they are admitted to institutions of Higher Learning.

He lamented that Universities have introduced irrelevant courses that only serves to hurt graduates of such courses.

“Take for Example Bachelor of Arts in Conflict Resolution. What will such a person do if the conflicts have finished? Bachelor degree in Women Studies. Surely, our women are wonderful, but do we have to devote a course for only women?” He asked

He called upon Universities in the region to seriously take Agribusiness, noting that Africa lags behind economically due to poor farming methods.

“Much of poverty in Africa is due to one danger- the danger of subsistence economics where people just produce to eat. If I have food security, but I have no income security where will I get the money to build a house, clothing and buy other things?” He lamented.

Reinvention of University Education

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for the re-invention of University Education as a tool for regional integration, pointing out that such an initiative churned out people who later became great leaders in the East African region in the formative years.

“We need to reinvent University Education as a tool for regional integration the way it was in the formative years. Partnership is not a new phenomenon in the East African region. Colonial Makerere University produced leaders like the Later Mwalimu Julius Kabarage Nyerere, Benjamin Mkapa, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki,” he said, adding that using education as a tool for regional integration will fill the void left by the colonial government.

Mr. Odinga added that Uganda is Kenya’s biggest trading partner and emphasized on the Kenyan government’s commitment to deal firmly with custom officials extorting money from people at the Kenya Uganda border.

“Uganda is the biggest trading partner of our country. We need Uganda. Uganda also needs us. The same thing with Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Any officer flouting the law at the border will face the full force of the law,” Odinga said.

Ksh. 31 Million raised

Kenya’s Minister for Higher Education Professor Margret Kamar on her part said that her docket is committed to enhancing access and equity in education, sector and institutional efficiency as well as assuring stable financing of University Education.

“We therefore encourage Universities to ensure strong governance and management of University Education,” she remarked.

While thanking President Yoweri Museveni and Prime Minister Raila odinga for their kind gesture, the chancellor of the Great Lakes University of Kisumu Professor Wasao said that the institution endeavors to provide world class facilities that will see it become a center for excellence in the region.

A total Ksh. 31 million was raised with Museveni and Odinga donating Ksh. 8.4 million and Ksh 6.4 million respectively. Kenya’s president Mwai Kibaki sent a donation of Ksh. 2million.

Similar fund-drive took place last year at Busoga University in Uganda where a total Ksh. 30 million was raised.