Should universities be stopped from offering certificate and diploma courses? That is the question that have divided Members of Parliament as they debate the Universities Amendment Bill, 2023
The Universities Amendment Bill 2023, currently in its second reading at the National Assembly, seeks to limit certificates and diploma courses to Technical, Vocational Education and Training TVET Institutions to help increase enrolment in the tertiary institutions.
The Bill states that universities are primarily institutions of higher learning and academic research and should therefore focus on degree and postgraduate programmes as opposed to certificate and diploma courses.
According to the proposed amendment, technical and vocational education and training institutions have continued to record low enrolment despite significant government investment.
Those supporting the Bill, state that the government is spending billions for infrastructure in TVETs yet universities take most of the students for courses that can easily be offered at the lower level institutions.
They also argue that Universities should strictly focus on research and offering degree courses and should not meddle into TVET affairs.
The chairman of the Commission for University Education (CUE), Prof Chacha Nyaigotti-Chacha (Left) and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Prof Mike Kuria, when they appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Education at the Bunge Tower, Nairobi on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru who is the sponsor of the Bill argued that the continued offering of basic certificates and diplomas by universities creates duplication with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions which are regulated by the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA), which oversees institutions offering certificate and diploma courses while Commission for Universities Education (CUE) overseas institutions offering degrees.
“The continued offering of certificate and diploma courses by universities blurs institutional mandates and weakens specialisation within the education sector,” Mr Gathiru said.
He pointed out that limiting diploma and certificate programmes to TVET institutions will increase enrolment and promote skill-based training aligned with national development priorities.
His position was supported by Starehe lawmaker Amos Mwago who pointed out that the Bill will restore order within higher education.
“If universities continue competing for diploma students, we weaken the very institutions meant to drive technical skills, industrialisation and job creation,” Mr Maina said.
The lawmaker argued that some of the universities were established primarily to address some specific areas of our economy such as Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and Egerton University, which was launched as a farm school in Egerton in 1939.
“As things stand now, most of these universities have focused on diploma and certificate courses that tend to be more lucrative to them, rather than addressing their co-mandates and the reasons why they were established to bridge the economic gap in our country,” Mr Mwago
North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood argued that by offering diploma and certificate courses, universities have encroached on the mandate of TVET institutions.
This means that the grading and certification processes differ from those used by TVET institutions creating inconsistencies between qualifications issued by universities and those issued by TVETs.
North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood.
“Universities should focus on churning out graduates at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD levels. We do not need them to go down to the certificates and diplomas because that is already being done,” Mr Dawood said.
For Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda, universities need to get out of awarding certificates and diplomas business.
“Why should a professor be teaching a person with Class 8 qualification in a university set up for the purpose of just issuing a certificate for 3 weeks? This is where we have a big problem,” Mr Ochanda said.
According to the MP, there is no need for somebody who has been a professor training master and undergraduate courses coming down to start training somebody with class eight qualification on governance
“What universities churn out ought to be respected. I do not think a university can be proud of churning out class eights who are doing certificates in a number of small courses,” he said.
However, Kinangop MP Kwenya Thuku said the education sector is changing and moving from the 8-4-4 system to the Curriculum-Based Education (CBE).
“We must be cognisant of the fact that there are some courses that are offered in universities that cannot be offered in TVETs.If we are going to do away with certificate and diploma courses in our universities, we must do a cost-effect analysis of what will happen to learning institutions that have heavily invested their monies in such courses,” Mr Thuku said.
President William Ruto interacts with Industrial Automation and Robotics students at the Kabete National Polytechnic in Nairobi during the National TVET Centenary Celebrations closing ceremony on July 31, 2024.
Photo credit: PCS | Nation Media Group
He argued that there are specialised certifications that are done in universities which have invested in infrastructure for such courses.
“The University of Nairobi, for example, has infrastructure for engineering courses. For that reason, we must encourage that a number of diploma courses be done in universities because of the capacity they have,” he said.
This position was also supported by Moiben MP Phylis Bartoo who argued that sometimes certificate courses act as preparatory grounds for some programs that are offered in the university.
“We have universities in far-flung areas where there are no other institutions. What will happen to the equipment that those universities have invested in? Will they just stay idle because they cannot offer certificate courses after we amend the Universities Act to stop them from doing so? She posed.
Ms Bartoo argued that certificate courses are offered at the level of faculties and not by a chancellor hence there is no clash on the mandate of TVETs and CUE.
“Looking at the proposed amendment, I am wondering who is complaining. Where is the problem? A university is different from a TVET. These are totally different entities even though their ultimate goal is to train,” Mr Bartoo said.
Siaya Woman Representative Christine Ombaka pointed out that many TVETs are overcrowded hence universities should be allowed to offer the Diploma courses.
“What are we fighting over? When we have space at the TVET level, we can take students there. If there is space at the university, why not? If you start cutting down and pigeonholing issues, then we will have trouble.
“Let that be a free area where a student can go wherever they want. If you want to do your diploma or certificate at a university and it offers it, let it be. If a TVET offers it, let it be. People also have their choices. There are those who want to go to the University of Nairobi for a certificate course rather than to go to a TVET in their area to get the same certificate. So, preferences are also here,” she added.
