Probe finds JKUAT broke rules in award of 118 PhDs

A graduation ceremony at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By OUMA WANZALA
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An investigation has revealed that Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT) flouted its own training and supervision rules to award 118 PhDs last month.

The Commission for University Education (CUE), in a report submitted to Education Secretary George Magoha, details cases of poor monitoring of students’ progress during PhD training.

A total of 58 students or 65 percent of the 89 College of Human Resource Development (CoHRED) PhD graduates were, for instance, trained in the eight satellite campuses yet majority of qualified academic staff are based on the main campus.

“There was non-adherence to the guidelines with respect to; supervision load and duration of research component of PhD programme,” reads the report.

“There was no evidence of meetings between supervisors and supervisees as no record of such meetings was availed.”

In many cases, the board of examiners that sat to consider the oral presentations had as few as four members against a threshold of at least six set by the university’s Statutes.

The report states that most of the examination reports submitted were not comprehensive enough to improve the quality of the work of the students.

It adds that the Board of Examiners’ reports for the oral examination identified fundamental weaknesses in the theses yet went ahead to give a verdict not consistent with the findings.

“Most of the students published in journals hosted by AJPO Journals in which a number of academic staff of CoHRED had interest,” reads the report. The report also indicates that out of the 118 PhD graduates, 112 had been approved by Senate and their names appeared in the Graduation Booklet.

“Most students published two papers in the same issue of a journal, in some cases, as consecutive papers. Some of the journals that the students published in were non-existent,” adds the report.

CUE has now given the University Senate three months to meet and review the PhDs that were awarded during the 33rd Graduation ceremony held on June 21. It also wants the university to submit to CUE evidence of the students’ publication of two articles in referred journals for each PhD awarded failure to which the non-conforming PhDs will be recalled until the graduation requirement is fulfilled.

And in what could throw university education into further crisis, CUE has directed JKUAT to also review all PhDs awarded in the past graduations. A total of 327 PhD degrees and 2,101 master’s degrees were awarded during the 31st, 32nd and 33rd graduation ceremonies held in June 2018, November 2018 and June 2019.