A special committee at Moi University has recommended the closure of two satellite campuses due to lack of students.
The 12-member committee, which was chaired by Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Finance) Prof Daniel Tarus, proposed that after closure of Kitale and Odera Akang’o in Siaya County.
The committee also recommended redeployment of permanent staff and the sacking of casual workers.
ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES
Also to be closed are Kiptagich and Hospice teaching centres. The committee said that courses being offered at the centres be moved to either Annex, West Campus or College of Health Sciences. Coast Campus should offer three popular academic programmes.
According to the report, Odera Akang’o campus has no students and the director in charge of academic programmes has no role, same as Kitale Campus which has no students despite having good facilities including classrooms, laboratories, offices and hostels.
The Kitale campus has approximately 43 acres of land.
CHANGES
“The university should seek alternative uses of the facility or else dispose it to avoid deterioration and resultant reduction in value,” reads the report.
Vice-Chancellor Isaac Kosgei said a meeting will be convened to make a decision on the fate of the two campuses as advised by the committee.
“We will meet to determine what will happen to the two campuses in line with the recommendations of the committee,” said Prof Kosgei.
He urged the university community to support the changes. The report also raised concerns over poor enrolment at the school of law despite the institution having adequate facilities and teaching staff.
The law school is still undergoing accreditation by Council of Legal Education.
UNDERGO TRAINING
The report said student ratio in the school of law is 1:12 as opposed to the recommended of 1:18 as per Commission for University Education standards and guidelines 2014, 1:15 as per Legal Education Act.
“The academic staff in the school be advised to undergo training/further their studies as awaiting build-up of the student numbers due to current low work allocation. The school will be allowed to increase the number of departments as student enrolment increases,” added the report.
Since the start on reforms in the university sector in 2016, a total of 24 satellite campuses have been closed across the country.