By Scott Bellows
In Summary
- In the past 12 months, CUE began issuing directives to universities stipulating which syllabus must be used in each class. Every class of every course must teach almost the same topics and use the same textbooks.
Kamau has a choice of locating his new technology
firm in Kenya or in Tanzania. The company relies heavily on
telecommunications so he would care deeply about any burdensome
regulations imposed on him by the Communications Authority of Kenya
(CAK).
Now, imagine that CAK no longer focused on customer
experiences as outcomes, but instead cared much more about outputs. The
authority would begin to allow Kenyans to only own the outdated Nokia
1100 phones. Simultaneously, only old apps it approved could run on the
phones.
Next, visualise that CAK regulated that no phone
calls could last less than two minutes, but not longer than three
minutes. Which company in its right mind would desire to operate in such
a restrictive environment?
If CAK focused heavily on standardisation instead
of customer experience, it would implement non-researched steps that
kill business. Unfortunately, Kenya’s Commission for University
Education (CUE) seems set on pursuing a similar real life situation.
Governments have learned the lessons also discovered by bilateral donors to not focus on outputs.
Every CEO knows that bureaucracy does not solve
problems. Cures for small pox and polio did not originate from any
government. Instead, private citizens strived to make a difference for
society and were allowed the freedom to do so.
On the flip side, Kenyans do not desire a veritable
Lord of the Flies situation where everyone fends for themselves without
any government intervention. We all remember years ago when an
institution came into Kenya from a neighbouring country and offered
severely substandard education. The predecessor to CUE dealt with the
situation appropriately.
Kenyans have grown to expect a strategic balance
between the two extremes of tight controls versus no standards at all.
They would not want the government to kill a mosquito with a hammer.
In the past 12 months, CUE began issuing directives
to universities stipulating which syllabus must be used in each class.
Every class of every course must teach almost the same topics and use
the same textbooks.
France tried to standardise its post-secondary
education following World War II to devastating effects. It lost its
competitiveness to the UK with its storied rivalry between Oxford and
Cambridge universities.
Many Kenyan universities teach the “theory of debt”
that states companies should hold one-third debt and two-thirds equity.
However, the theory is outdated, disproved and not relevant in today’s
economy. Do parents want their children all learning such incorrect
uniformly without allowing each lecturer to teach up-to-date
well-researched theories and realities in their fields of expertise?
Even Harvard University holds dramatically
different theories and views on financial economics than does the
University of Chicago. The two institutions compete on Nobel Prize
awards and their rival theories form the basis of financial markets
around the world.
If those two institutions moved to Kenya, they
would be forced to stop diversity of opinions and creativity arguably
lowering quality to mediocre standards.
Next, CUE mandated that all management and
governance structures in universities must be the same. At what point
should government dictate boards of directors or management structures
of any public or private industry?
Should smaller rural institutions be forced to do
the same thing as big urban entities? Do all institutions have the same
needs? Organisation development research shows such actions cause an
over-organised situation that leads to slow responsiveness, lack of
inventiveness and poorly educated students.
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