CUE CEO Prof Mike Kuria speaks during a workshop on the Internationalization of University Education with University Stakeholders at PrideInn Azure in Westlands, March 12, 2025. /CUE
The Commission on University Education (CUE) is championing the exposure of Kenyan universities on the international stage to enhance their quality of teaching and research and boost their global standing.
The commission is in the phase of collecting views from university stakeholders on the Internationalisation of University Education to strategise on the global marketing of Kenyan universities.
On Wednesday, CUE held a stakeholder engagement at the PrideInn Azure in Westlands where various insights were shared by speakers of high standing on higher education.
"No university can afford to operate like a village institution when striving for internationalisation. We must support our universities at all levels, including enabling their participation in academic exchange programmes," CUE CEO Prof Mike Kuria said.
The internationalisation of university education helps students develop skills and competencies needed to thrive in a globalised job market through exposure to diverse teaching methods and international collaboration and exchange programmes.
It also helps boost universities' global reputation, attract top faculty and students and secure funding opportunities, besides fostering innovation in curriculum development and academic standards, leading to improved research and development.
CUE chairperson Prof Chacha Nyaigotti-Chacha said the discussion on the internationalisation of university education is so fundamental that "to avoid talking about it is to commit suicide as far as higher education is concerned".
Chairperson of Private Universities in Kenya and Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) Prof Fr Stephen Mbugua echoed Chacha's sentiments saying it was about time Kenya's education went international considering the world has now become a global village.
He said many standards to meet this new status of the world have been developed, some being regional, continental and global.
On his part, Adventist University Vice Chancellor Prof V Injety said: "To internationalize our universities, we must first begin by marketing our country, Kenya."
Executive Director of the African Network for Internationalisation of Education (ANIE) Prof Kefa Simwa said internationalisation goes beyond participating in global education.
"It’s about shaping it. I believe the commission is well positioned to engage universities and guide them toward achieving true internationalisation," he said.
Several other speakers made submissions during the workshop, including Member Alternate to Principal Secretary, State Department for Higher Education and Research in the Ministry of Education, Dr Wilson Wahome Rureri.
Dr Rureri said the Ministry of Education will collaborate with CUE and the Directorate of Immigration Services to draft a policy document on the recruitment of international students in Kenyan universities.
"The document will be submitted to the Cabinet for review and subsequently forwarded to Parliament for approval," he said.
He challenged universities to enhance the visibility and attractiveness of their websites to appeal to international students seeking to study in Kenya.
Dr Rureri, however, said that even as the ministry supports the internationalisation of Kenya's higher education, questions abound.
"As we champion Internationalisation, we must ask ourselves: Do our academic programmes meet global standards? Does the commission ensure that the university programmes it accredits receive global recognition?"
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Director in Kenya, Dr Dorothee Weyler and policy adviser and technical expert in the State Department of Diaspora Affairs, Dr David Katiambo, also spoke.
Dr Weyler said: "My recommendation is that we need a framework to support internationalisation. As DAAD, we are ready to provide support once such a framework is in place."
On his part, Dr Katiambo recommended the establishment of clear guidelines on how universities will implement brain circulation as part of internationalisation.
"We should adopt an existing framework to guide both the Commission and the State Department for Diaspora Affairs in this process," he said.
