Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), Webuye Campus will reopen its doors next month after being closed for five years.
The campus will focus on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses.
The decision to reopen the campus followed a strategic agreement between the university’s management and Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka.
“Will support the campus’s success by ensuring the necessary infrastructure is developed to boost growth and operational efficiency,” Lusaka pledged.
Under the newly inked deal, Bungoma County has leased the university campus for a period of 99 years.
MMUST representative James Sakwa revealed that the university's board had decided to exclusively offer TVET programmes at the Webuye campus.
The institution, which will operate with a degree of semi-autonomy, will offer a range of unique diploma courses, including specialised training in pedagogy, the profession and science of teaching.
The campus will introduce programmes that recognise prior learning, a key innovation aimed at enhancing skills development in the region.
MMUST closed four of its campuses citing financial difficulties after meetings held by the university's board in December 2020 and January 12, 2021.
The university also cited the need for better and quality education as one of reasons behind the shutting down of the said campuses.
The institution thereafter reallocated lecturers and staffers in a bid to ensure the delivery of quality education at its remaining branches.
Students from the closed campuses were advised to report to the main campus in Kakamega from where they were placed in the remaining campuses.
The move by the MMUST came after top Ministry of Education officials held meetings with university heads from across the country over low funding by the national government, and which had left institutions of higher learning broke.