Kenyan Universities on the Brink: Are Our Institutions Failing?
Kenya’s higher education sector is facing an existential crisis, with public universities increasingly resembling hollow shells of what institutions of learning should be. Once proud centers of knowledge and innovation, many are now crumbling under the weight of mismanagement, underfunding, and political interference.
A sobering lecture by South African academic Jonathan Jensen, titled “When does a university cease to exist?”, offers a chilling reflection that mirrors Kenya’s current predicament. Jensen described a university where lecture halls are dilapidated, professors have fled, libraries are outdated, and management is preoccupied with containing unrest instead of advancing scholarship. His words strike a familiar chord in the Kenyan context.
The reality in Kenya is that most of our 60-plus universities are struggling to meet even the most basic operational demands. Reports of institutions unable to pay salaries, relying on outdated resources, and witnessing a mass exodus of qualified staff have become alarmingly common.
“A university ceases to exist when stripped of its intellectual and material assets,” Jensen said. And in Kenya, these assets are eroding fast.
Despite enrolling thousands of students annually and holding graduation ceremonies with pomp and color, the true soul of many universities has faded. What remains is often a pursuit of profit over purpose — where students are treated as customers, and education is reduced to a transaction.
The core mission of a university — to generate and disseminate knowledge — is being overshadowed by corporate-style management focused solely on financial sustainability. Academic autonomy has taken a back seat, with senates now reduced to endorsing politically driven agendas. In many cases, university leadership is appointed not through merit but by political decree, further undermining credibility.
The consequences are dire. Students are forced to sit for exams in courses barely taught due to strikes or understaffing. Lecturers are demoralized by meager salary increments and lack of research support. Intellectual discourse and debate — the lifeblood of any university — are scarce.
Kenya’s universities are hemorrhaging, and unless urgent reforms are enacted, we risk losing the few institutions that still function.
Strikes have kept over 600,000 students out of class for months, with little sign of resolution. Meanwhile, libraries gather dust, infrastructure deteriorates, and innovation stalls. The very identity of the Kenyan university is under threat.
If we do not re-center the intellectual project and revive academic freedom, we may soon find ourselves with buildings and titles, but no real universities.
As one lecturer put it, “A university ceases to exist when the intellectual project no longer defines its identity, infuses its curriculum, energizes its scholars, and inspires its students.”
That time, for many Kenyan universities, may be dangerously close.
In other news:IMF Downplays Global Recession Fears Despite US Tariffs
Kenyan Universities on the Brink: Are Our Institutions Failing?