EALA sounds death knell for ‘fake’ institutions

Days when some dubious universities and colleges would offer substandard education in East Africa and get away with it, are numbered.

This follows a decision by the East African Legislative Assembly to form a regional certification body for institutions of higher learning.

Members of the EALA General Purpose committee, who are already scrutinising a proposal by the Aga Khan University for the regional body, have agreed to push for the amendment of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) Act to expand the institution’s mandate to start the accreditation process.

“In our mind, accreditation should be done by one body. Our problem now is how to proceed,” said Dr Odette Nyiramilimo, the EALA member from Rwanda.

Presently, there is no common legal framework in East Africa under which a university may be granted a regional status.

Only national accreditation processes are available much as they are time consuming, cumbersome, require compliance with accreditation requirements that are inconsistent.

The Aga Khan University representatives said regional accreditation would improve higher education opportunities for prospective students, facilitate common regional benchmarks and standards for higher education and help create a level regional playing field for local and foreign higher education institutions that wish to operate regionally.

The General Purpose Committee chairperson Lydia Wanyoto said they would also interact with representatives of other universities and other stakeholders before opening a general debate by the Assembly.

“This committee was thinking along the same lines when we were making the IUCEA Bill. It is even now more important that we have signed a Common Market protocol,” said Dan Wandera Ogalo, the Ugandan legislator EA Assembly in approval.