Gov’t closes four illegal colleges in Thika

Hundreds of students have been forced to go back home after the Technical and Vocational Education Training Authority closed down four colleges in Thika Town in a countrywide raid on illegal colleges.

Among those affected was Memorial Nursing Institute, which is reportedly the leading medical institution in Kiambu County.

Speaking during the raid, the authority’s CEO Dr Kipkirui Lang’at intimated that he had received numerous complaints from parents on the validity of their children’s certificates.

Lang’at further warned parents to be wary of colleges that may be offering fake certificates.

The CEO said that they had given a 6-month notice to all the affected institutions, adding that the authority would ensure all educational institutions comply with the required academic standards.

This comes just over a month after the Council of Legal Education ordered Moi University to close its school of law for failing to meet requirements to offer the course.

In a letter to Vice-Chancellor Richard Mibey, the council said it ordered the closure on August 28 after an inspection showed that Moi University did not have the capacity to offer law courses.

In the September 23 letter, the council chief executive officer, Kulundu Bitonye, said Moi University performed poorly during the inspection of facilities and resources used to offer the law programme.

The council demanded that the university submit a closure plan in the next two months.

It further ordered Moi University to put in place a plan for either teaching out current students or transferring them to licensed institutions.

The university is also required to devise a management plan for academic staff.

Kenya’s higher learning programme has come under sharp scrutiny followed cases of fake degrees offered in several institutions.

In several occasions, the Commission for University Education (CUE) has been put on the spot to explain allegations of sub-standard courses offered in several learning institutions in the country, including colleges, private universities and training institutes.