UoN needs more lecturers to be world-class, says chancellor

The University of Nairobi will hire more lecturers to improve the teacher-student ratio, chancellor Patrick Verkooijen has said.

Speaking on Friday during the university’s 72nd graduation ceremony, he said this will enhance its efficiency and burnish the quality of its graduates.

“I am convinced we can not only be the greatest university in Africa but one of the greatest in the world,” the chancellor said.

“To achieve this, we must increase staff numbers and improve teacher-student ratios.”

Some 4,583 graduates were awarded various qualifications during the event. Verkooijen said more lecturers would also enhance research functionality to better position it as a domineering force in academia in the continent and globally.

The investments would also spur innovation and better position its faculties and students to not only solve teething societal challenges but also prepare to confront the evolving challenges of the future, he said.

The decision to hire more dons is a shift from its 2020 stance, when the institution declared a freeze to hiring of staff.

The decision, as explained at the time by then vice chancellor Peter Mbithi, was occasioned by the decline of its student population by 30,348 due to the lowering of entry grades.

The institution faculty has been having labour unrest, with its academic members going on strike for days, making students go for months without being taught.

It leadership had to recently resort to threats of disciplinary action and sacking to make dons return to the lecture halls.

The Universities Academic Staff Union eventually called off the strike on November 23 after the government committed to fulfil the 2021-25 Collective Bargain Agreement, initially valued at Sh9.76 billion.

Moreover, the chancellor said he will lead the charge in mobilising support from the government to implement an ambitious plan to transform the university.

He wants it to become efficient in administration and a robust thought and research leader.

“With the support of the President, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and the University of Nairobi Council, we will embark on a rapid transformation plan over the next two years—our social contract with you,” he said.

ARCHITECTS OF SOLUTIONS

Describing the graduates as “architects of solutions”, Verkooijen cited the university’s Silicon Savannah Innovation Park, backed by a €35 million (Sh4.7 billion) French investment, as a launchpad for graduates.

“Graduates, the world is waiting. Go out and shake it for a united, resilient and prosperous future,” he said.

Acting vice-chancellor Margaret Hutchingson praised the graduates for their achievement, saying the fete “represents much more than your areas of specialisation”.

“You embody the aspirations of your families, the strength of your communities and the promise of a brighter Kenya,” Reaffirming the university’s mission, she said education is a transformative force preparing graduates to address local and global challenges.

Council chair Amukowa Anangwe said despite financial and infrastructural constraints, the university will commercialise assets, enhance partnerships and implement reforms “to restore UoN to its rightful stature”.