We have few PhD holders teaching in our universities, what can be done?

 


LAST Sunday, a public debate on Tanzania’s Statistics and Cybercrime Act was held at the Nkrumah Hall of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).

The debate was held after the Bills had in the recent past attracted considerable criticism, from various walks of life. The criticism included two articles published in the Washington Post and one by Twaweza experts, who had put together a more detailed analysis of the Statistics Act and its relevance to freedom of speech as explained in the current constitution.

The Speakers included the Onesmo Kyauke and Prof Kitila Mkumbo from the University of Dar es Salaam, Maxence Mello of Jamii Forums and Aidan Eyakuze of Twaweza who explained how better these Bills could be improved.

The debate, organised by the University of Dar es Salaam Staff Association (UDASA), together with the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) and ITV triggered heated arguments.

I will not like to go into the details of what was discussed that particular day, but rather focus on what Prof Mkumbo said about the status of our universities in terms of hiring qualified lecturers to uplift the standard of education in Tanzania. The don, is currently undergoing a sabbatical at Twaweza gave shocking statistics.

Prof Mkumbo pointed out that only 19 per cent of the lecturers teaching in our universities both public and private are PhD holders, and over half of these academicians are employed at the University of Dar es Salaam.

This shows that the other half of these PhD holders is shared by at least 31 universities which have mushroomed over the last 15 years or so, enrolling thousands of students. Prof Mkumbo sadly said that the education sector is not doing very well in Tanzania, citing an example of how the University of Dar es Salaam turns out 50 doctors annually, while the Open University produces less than ten doctors each year.

He wondered how Bachelor or Masters degree holders teach core courses at the university. Many of them do have not published papers, and some even fear to enroll for further studies he said. Looking critically at what Prof Mkumbo said, there is a need of to borrow a leaf from countries like Uganda.

We should recall that in 2013, 66 doctorates were awarded by Kampala International University and over the last two years the degrees were declared invalid by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education.

The Council said they did not meet the required academic standards, forcing the University to stop awarding PhDs and investigate the problem.

The decision happened as private universities like Kampala International University (KIU) continue to mushroom across East Africa.

Was the slamming of these PhDs symptomatic of a large-scale dilution in academic quality as private sector education expands? Or was it part of the inevitable learning process, as a new institution looks to compete with the more well-established public universities?

Kenya for example has set a higher qualifications threshold for the appointment of university lecturers which Tanzania could emulate in its struggle to improve the education sector.

In a directive to be implemented in the next five years, Kenya’s Commission for Higher Education says only PhD holders will be allowed to lecture.

Holders of Masters degrees, no matter the years of experience or number of books published, will only be able to be appointed as junior lecturers and tutorial fellows.

Previously, universities had the leeway to appoint lecturers irrespective of whether or not they held a PhD. Kenya’s Ministry of Education has also raised concern over a trend in which lecturers take up teaching jobs at several institutions.

Education Secretary, Prof Jacob Kaimenyi said recently that lecturing at multiple institutions is hurting tutors’ ability to provide quality education to students and to supervise research.

Kenya has been struggling to match rising enrolments with teaching staff. According to government statistics, the number of professors in public universities has risen by a measly 11 per cent over the past three years while student numbers had soared by 56 per cent – from 140,000 in 2010 to more than 300,000 this year – generating an everrising student-to-lecturer ratio.

By the beginning of last year, the number of professors stood at 265, from 238 three years ago, meaning that Kenya’s public universities had a teaching workforce of 5,189, from around 4,800 three years ago – only 8 per cent growth.

Lecturers have been forced to take on heavier workloads, possibly compromising an already shaky quality of learning. Universities across Kenya are on a major recruitment drive, hiring scholars on part-time contracts to teach the growing number of students. Private universities seem to have better lecturer-to-student ratios.

Kenya’s Commission for University Education Secretary, Prof David Some, said the threshold for being appointed a professor will also go up.

Currently candidates are required to accumulate only 10 application points from scholarly writing, in future a professor will have to accumulate a minimum of 60 points.

Ordinarily, such points are awarded based on the number of books and level of books published by an individual – a book for use at the university level earns you more points than one for secondary school level, for instance.

For people to be appointed as associate professors in Kenya, the guidelines state that they to have at least 48 publication points’ worth of scholarly writing, up from the current eight points.

In addition, they must have supervised at least four postgraduate students, while a full professor must have supervised at least five PhD students.

Currently, one can rise without having necessarily supervised any PhD students. What we want is to create a level playing field in the appointment of lecturers and create order in the teaching system says Kaimenyi, Kenya’s Education Secretary.

The Commission said the new guidelines, which are a subject of discussion at a stakeholders’ conference last week, were meant to raise the bar on the quality of teaching at Kenyan universities – at a time of rising concerns over the quality of university graduates.

The new directive is part of a wider Kenya government plan for universities to produce at least 1,000 PhDs holders every year, in order to produce the next generation of academicians. The strategy aims at alleviating lecturer shortage and provide skills Kenya’s rapidly developing economy needs.

The new PhD training programme will be rolled out through scholarships. Back home, our universities like Sokoine University of Agriculture, Open University of Tanzania, Ardhi University, Hubert Kairuki Memorial University, International Medical and Technological University, Tumaini University Makumira Campus and St. Augustine University of Tanzania deserve qualified staff and lecturers with PhDs.