STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS THE SHORTAGE OF TEACHING STAFF IN OUR UNIVERSITIES

For the last 10 years, this country has made significant gains in the education sector especially within the basic education sub sectors with free primary and subsidized high school education programs. These programs have led to a tremendous increase in the enrollment of students in primary and secondary schools resulting in the proportional increase in the demand for chances at college and university education in the country. For this reason, the government recently increased the number of public universities from 7 to 22 in preparation for a grandiose plan to build the required human capacity required to drive national socio-economic development. Though a remarkable initiative worthy of commendation, the shortage of of qualified lecturers and the quality of university education that our universities are offering need to be handled carefully as a matter of priority. The Public Universities Institutional Audits released by the Commission for University Education recently made public worrying trends within the sector with the revelation that our universities have only a few lecturers with doctorate degrees and that most teaching is done by people with master’s degree qualification. Already, the rush by new universities to tap into existing qualified manpower pool that exist in the country is already sending alarms that things may not be well for old universities and research institutes who hold  a significant  pool of quality scholars and scientists. If left unchecked, this will further compromise many issues not only in our universities but the entire research sector.

How then do we address this important national challenge? As I have said in many forums, our university administrative systems must start to think of innovative mechanisms that will ensure that they develop and retain quality human manpower if they have to offer quality training. Allow me to suggest a few short and long term strategies that could alleviate the problem of low PhD-qualified lecturers.

In the short term, universities will need to develop crush programs that will ensure they attract and retain qualified manpower for teaching. Such programs may involve offers of lucrative part time positions to those within the public and private sectors with at least PhD level training or initiating to offer their services as ‘professors or researchers in practice’ transferring their long years experiences in public and private service as lecturers. Universities also need to introduce competitive sabbatical programs for Kenyans and other scholars within the country and in the Diaspora who may be willing to come to Kenyan universities for short periods of 1 semester to teach. More importantly, the universities must ring fence their best, offer them Masters and PhD scholarship to build their own teaching pool. Opening up opportunities for those who have retired from service but who may still be willing to serve on contract could also alleviate the biting shortage of qualified teaching staff in our universities.

Long term strategies to address lack of adequate university teaching staff may involve establishing centers of excellence and research chairs in areas in which there are significant gaps. The centre of excellence should be modeled in ways that will nurture talents at PhD and postdoctoral level in all disciplines. Research chairs will require that the universities set aside a significant amount of research fund that distinguished scientist and scholars can use to conduct research but also offer postgraduate mentorship thereby helping build required quality human resource capacity in the university. In developing such a model, the private sector needs to be looped in to create synergy between the university and the labor market. Involvement of the private sector could also be extended to areas of curriculum development, teaching positions and research partnerships. Even as universities undertake all these initiatives, they must make sure that lecturers are imparted with relevant pedagogical skills through continuous in service training and that quality and relevance of training is not compromised.

Our universities must adopt a vibrant collaborations and linkages model through networks with other Universities in the region and the rest of the world. This will open opportunities for visiting professors to come to our local universities through academic staff exchange programs and also offer our lecturers opportunities to teach in foreign universities. This will not only allow for knowledge exchange and diffusion but will provide a good platform for technology transfer and adoption of best practices that exist in other institutions in the world. Overall, the Universities must take advantage of opportunities of capacity building offered through joint collaborations between Kenya- South Africa, National Commission for Science and Technology and Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Kenya DAAD Scholarship programme for doctorate training, Pan Africa University and other regional capacity building opportunities to increase the number of Kenyan doctorates. This must be well coordinated from the University who should encourage their staff.

It must however be made clear that these programs will require huge resources and strong management and leadership skills. The universities must address issues of working conditions such as better remunerations, clear career growth paths and scholarships among other incentives. It is only through such measures that our universities will minimize challenges of brain drain and moonlighting currently rampant in our universities. Such programs must be clearly stipulated to reduce management-staff problems that are the source of university strife among the teaching staff and university administration. Achievement of the desired results will therefore call for strong leadership and administrative skills be hinged on right policies. Lastly, higher education institutions must be strengthened to respond to societal needs and challenges through new academic programmes and, innovative pedagogical methods centered on problem-solving. Thus, they must be well staffed and equipped to impact on the society.

COUNTY GOVERNMENTS MUST USE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION AS TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

From the just ended general election, it is clear that the mode of governance in this country has changed given that there will be two tiers of governance at national and county levels. National government will basically coordinate national security and defense, health, education and development of road infrastructure while the county government will to a larger extent charter the development trajectory of counties depending on their specific and available resources. This paradigm shift places a huge responsibility on newly elected county leaders especially governors and calls upon them to come up will effective people-friendly policies and  strategies that will ensure optimal exploitation of resources that for a long time have been underutilized. However, it is important to bear in mind that even as development will be determined from ‘mashinani’ with ‘wanjiku’ being at the centre of each decision, our national values and aspiration must always be kept alive. The only way to ensure that this is done will be for county governors to synchronize county government Marshall plans with national development blueprints especially the Vision 2030.

The counties that want to move forward will have to undertake both an inward and outward retrospection. Inwardly, the governors and the entire leadership will have to determine the resources available within their borders and come up will strategies that will enable the county maximize on their use. Outward retrospection will involve an impartial SWOT analysis that will enable the county  develop sectors in which they have a competitive edge over other counties while keeping in focus areas in which they will require to form collaborative partnership with other counties and national government to grow. In many counties, a lot of focus will have to go towards addressing challenges of high levels of poverty, public health, education, food and water security, unemployment, climate change and environmental degradation. In my opinion, only counties whose leadership will embrace and adopt innovative scientifically proven technologies to address these problems will be on the true path to sustainable socio-economic growth.

The governors in counties that want to leap frog and catch up with other counties like Nairobi must first of all remain open to expert advice and use research-based policies to drive their development agenda. This may call for such governors to engage science advisors capable of interpreting research findings and translating them into sound policies with respect to the needs and aspirations of their counties. More importantly, this will require that counties development agenda clearly identify key sectors which will most likely benefit from interventions of science, technology and innovation( ST&I) besides availing required resources to move the programs forward. In this era of transparent accountable and public-driven governance, the leadership must from the onset set clear indicators and time lines on how to achieve agreed targets.

Already things are beginning to look up for those counties that will want to use ST&I as an enabler. Two recently enacted laws; the Universities Act 2012 and the ST&I Act 2013, provides national frameworks that will allow counties to tap into ST&I potential for their development plans and besides assurance for quality university education and research. For instance, through the ST&I Act, the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NCST&I) will outline national research agenda thus providing national compass on the direction the county should take as far as Research &Development (R&D) is concerned. Alongside NCST&I, there will be the National Research Fund (NRF) which will ensure effective coordination and funding for research that have socio-economic impact. On the other hand, University Act 2012 will ensure harmonized university education and quality assurance to boot. And taking into consideration the recent increase in numbers of public university spread across various counties within the country, the county governments need only to reposition to tap into the quality human capacity and research that will come from these institutions.

More importantly, counties must develop innovative strategies that will ensure that the counties realize sustainable growth for the benefits of their citizens. The leadership must consider as their key responsibility the need to serve with clear visionary milestones geared towards improving the socio-economic status of their people. Using the equalization funds, counties that have for a long time been marginalized will need to invest in certain areas such as education, health, human capacity building and road infrastructure for faster “catch up” with other relatively developed counties. Counties that have had some measure of growth need not rest on their laurels. The new dispensation offers such counties the opportunity to reorganize themselves to be centres of excellence in many areas. They have an opportunity to export both goods and services to the counties that may be lacking in such. It will also be imperative for the leadership in counties that are relatively more developed to set good governance structures that will ensure the entire citizenry partake of the socio-economic benefits instead of being just for a privileged few. Indeed, it must be business unusual for it is not the time to manage by exclusion but the time to involve all in decision making through transparent accountable public consultative processes.

The onus is also on the national government to provide the necessary support to the county governments in areas in which there may be challenges if sustainable development at both national and county governments is to be realized. This will call for pragmatic inclusive planning in which key ministries consult and fuse economic planning with technology planning. In my opinion, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of State for Planning and the Ministry responsible for Science, Technology and Innovation or their respective departments at the county government must strive to synchronize their budgets and programmes and make sure research work that guarantees socioeconomic development are prioritized. If everything is important then nothing is important and we must prioritize.

Lastly, county government will need to benchmark with other counties and even with other countries to learn and adopt best practices that can be useful in spurring county and ultimately national development. The county leadership must ensure that their development agenda create a lasting and sustainable impact on the society. The national agenda has to be cascaded to the county level to ensure that programs at county build up to the national development agenda. I am persuaded that use of science, technology and innovation will provide more effective tools for faster national and county growth. Our governors must therefore strive to embrace technology, research and innovation if they want to leave a legacy after their 5 year tenure in office.

NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY

Nuclear energy has many advantages if countries adopt IAEA guidelines on infrastructure and adhere to the treaties and conventions on nuclear energy to ensure the efficient development of safe and secure nuclear energy programmes. The advantages of nuclear include a reduced and stable energy price, national energy self-reliance and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as industrial growth and development.

THE REAL GROUND BREAKERS: INNOVATION IN KENYA

http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/features/the-real-ground-breakers-innovation-in-kenya-1.html

REMOVE THE JARGON TO SELL SCIENCE

The application of ST&I in society is a pre-requisite for socio-economic development. To be appreciated, ST&I must be well understood and its impact felt in the society. An important question posed by wananchi that science must answer is how science is going to address their challenges and improve their socio-economic status.

For a long time, Science articles and features have been misunderstood because of how they are presented.  Science marketing involves packaging Science in a language and format that is both appealing and easily comprehensible. This calls for development of effective communication strategies that take into consideration the target audience to enable the communication to be tailor-made to suit different audiences including policy-makers, younger generation, fellow scientists and peers.

Science communicators include the scientists and researchers involved in scientific work as well as journalists and reporters who fish for science stories and write on them.

The role of reporters and Journalists as science communicators is very crucial yet they pose a big challenge to effective communication as some of them lack training on how to communicate science and technology. Rather than informing they end up misinforming the audience. Scientific communication training for journalists will better their understanding of science concepts as well as provide background information for any feature they write on.

Together with training, I advocate for the establishment of Science- clearing houses to help Journalists authenticate what they write on Science. This may take the form of a Science- media liaison office in Research institutions, Higher Education Institutions and Government institutions involved in Science, Technology and Innovation policy. Institutions must be able to allocate enough resources in form of availing skilled human resource as well as continuous training their personnel in science communication.

Higher Education Institutions need to instill science communication skills in their students as a major component of the curriculum for post graduate level science courses to enable students to effectively communicate the results of their research work.

To gain public confidence and ensure accurate science reporting, we must unpack scientific facts, theories and principles without distorting the meaning. For science to find its way to the heart of the society, it must be un-coded to unravel its impact and application to socio-economic development.  In my opinion, the most critical aspect is to strive to make the connection or linkage between scientific ideas and new discoveries and how they can improve of the society’s day to day lives.

It is important to create more opportunities for dissemination of scientific knowledge, the simplest forums being baraza’s or science café’s where different scientific concepts are discussed and debated to remove any grey areas. We must also utilize and exploit the social networks to reach a wider audience through science blogs and websites.

Science communication is particularly important for information on policy making and agenda-setting. Vision 2030 strategic objectives include the need to enhance ST&I  awareness in order to develop a culture of creativity, innovativeness and a society that supports ST&I uptake and utilization.

Effective Science communication will create a transparent and open forum where the role of science in society will be clearly defined to enable society maximize its usefulness.

KNOWLEDGE CREATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

We live in an era where knowledge has become increasily important and is the foundation for economic growth, social development and political empowerment. Developed countries have embraced this knowledge revolution and necessitated the emergence of knowledge societies where knowledge is accorded more importance than any other resource in their economies.  According to the World Bank, the pillars of knowledge economy are education and training, Information and communication technologies, economic incentive and institutional regime and an efficient innovation system.

Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) is an aggregate index indicating a country’s, or regional’s overall preparedness to compete in the knowledge economy.  It is derived as the average of the four indices which represent the four pillars of the knowledge economy.

According to statistics released by the World bank for KEI 2012 rankings, African countries are ill-prepared for knowledge economy; among the top 100 countries, out of the 146 surveyed  there are only 8 African countries,  Kenya is in position 111 having dropped 3 ranks from previous survey in 2000.

Any steps towards creating knowledge societies in Africa must focus on improving the situation in the four pillars of knowledge economy already mentioned, in essence we must strive to develop a society whose growth and development is pegged on continual generation, dissemination and application of knowledge. How do we do this?

Africa is well endowed with natural resources but we still lack the know-how of translating this rich and diverse resources into tangible products that can drive our economies and assure a better quality of life to our citizens. For many decades we have been importers of knowledge but it is a high time that we participate in the global economy by contributing to the existing knowledge stock by generating knowledge as well as blending new knowledge with our indigenous knowledge.

First and foremost, we must change our mind sets and adopt new approaches to solve our problems. If we keep doing things the same way, we will keep getting the same results and will never progress.

To participate in global Knowledge society, Africa must therefore develop and maintain a pool of highly skilled human resource, equip them with skills and innovative capabilities to be able to translate knowledge into socioeconomic development and at the same time create new knowledge. Restructure and reform institutions and facilities, strengthen the information technology delivery framework to enable the efficient generation, dissemination and application of knowledge.  Break the silo-mentality by collaborating and encouraging interactions among the knowledge generators and en-users.

As we generate knowledge it is important to protect it by putting in place an   intellectual property rights system.

Leaders in Africa must be transformational and visionary to harness the wealth of scientific and technological knowledge and skill base and also encourage indigenous skill development and capacity building on the continent tailor- made to meet the socio-economic and environmental needs.

Developing countries like us must ride on the knowledge revolution wave and improve our competitiveness by building on our strengths, invest in human capital, develop effective institutions, adopt relevant technologies, encourage innovativeness and creativity as well as promote entrepreneurship.

Knowledge sharing amongst ourselves will help individual countries apply what has worked in another country as we face inter-related challenges.

We must create a prosperous future based on our ability to adopt new concepts and innovatively translate them into opportunities for wealth creation.

Focusing on efforts towards the creation, distribution and application of knowledge is the only way we will be able to catch up with the rest of the world and achieve sustainable development on a knowledge based development process.

DOUBLE SIDES OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Biological science when properly utilized can contribute positively to socio- economic development of any given nation. It can play a great role in agriculture, health, environment and industries and also provide goods and services to an ever growing global population. This field of science has been used to increase crop yields, improve quality and quantity of livestock and their products, develop diagnostic tools for both animal and human health and exploit natures' flora and fauna sustainably for socio-economic development. For instance, most pharmaceutical companies all over the world use this field of science to produce drugs and vaccines for infectious and no- infectious diseases. In addition, environmental protection and sustainability is ensured through application of biological sciences. On the other side, if not used well, knowledge from biological science can be used for none peaceful purposes. In the spirit of ensuring safe research and use of biological agents and toxins, Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) was developed.

The BTWC bans the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition and retention of microbial or other biological agents or toxins, in types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes. The convention was simultaneously opened for signature in Moscow, Washington and London in 1972 and entered into force in 1975.  Kenya acceded to the convention in 1976.  By 2012, the total number of States Parties to the Convention was 166 out of which 29 were from Africa with 6  from East Africa namely; Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Sudan. The National Council for Science and Technology is the National Focal Point for the BTWC in Kenya.

Article IV of BTWC requires States Parties to take necessary national measures such as enactment of national laws to prohibit and prevent the misuse of biological agents, toxins, weapons, equipment and means of delivery within their territories; and Article X states that States Parties should undertake to facilitate the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the use of biological agents and toxins for peaceful purposes.  Under the two articles, the Government of Kenya has benefited through capacity building in research institutions and institutions of higher learning; upgrading of laboratories, sensitization of stakeholders and training of communication officers from various government ministries and agencies in addition to finalization of the draft Biosciences Policy and Biosciences Bill. Two Kenyans have been fully sponsored in the past to attend the Meeting of States parties and the Seventh Review Conference of the convention respectively.

The fact that biological sciences research is crucial in Kenya should not be underestimated. This is because such research can contribute heavily to socio-economic development of the country. Kenya through its research institutions such as KARI and KEMRI which have positively used biological science knowledge generated through research to address national development challenges such as food insecurity and human health.

In KARI, research in biotechnology has played a significant role in improving the quality and quantity of animals and  increased crop production through breeding, improved indigenous crops such as sorghum, sweet potatoes and cassava by their fortification with Vitamin A  Already, farmers have started reaping the benefits of tissue cultured bananas through increased yields and better prices in the local market in many regions in Kenya. In animal production, research has led to development of disease resistant breeds for increased milk and beef production.. Regionally, Kenya not only boasts of having the best dairy breeds but also has developed through biological research livestock vaccines such as Avivax, (anti-Newcastle virus vaccine), Riftvax (Rift valley fever vaccine) and Rindervax (Rinderpest vaccine) and Fowlvax (Fowl typhoid vaccine) among many others against common livestock diseases and infections.

In health, KEMRI has developed a fully fledged production unit that utilizes findings from human research to develop innovative tools to address national health problems. Among the discoveries made by KEMRI scientists that are fully approved by relevant statutory national authorities include: KEMTAQ, an enzyme for gene multiplication; KEMRAB, a hand sanitizer; HEPCELL Rapid, a Hepatitis B surface antigen detection kit for laboratory diagnosis of Hepatis B virus infection; KEMCOM Rapid, a rapid HIV1 and 2 detection kit among other. These products have been tested and proven not only to be functional but relatively less costly and should therefore be used by Kenyans instead of relying on expensive imported similar products from overseas.

However, when not properly regulated, the biological sciences research can be used for non-peaceful purposes. For instance, the release of organisms causing smallpox, plague, anthrax, influenza or other diseases could prove catastrophic in terms of the resulting illnesses and deaths compounded by the panic such outbreaks  generate. The other reasons that calls for regulation of biological sciences research include: the potential for production of new microbial agents as expertise in biosciences grows and methods for genetic manipulation of organisms become simpler. With the threats caused by globalization and transport systems including increased number of emerging and re-emerging diseases, the trans boundary spread of infectious diseases, insecure transport and transfer of materials from sampling sites during importation and exportation, inadequate laboratories to ensure bio-safety and bio-security, there should be a legal framework in place to ensure that dual-use research is prevented. The Government of Kenya, through Vision 2030, recognizes the need to enhance biosecurity due to the growing threat of biological agents that may be misused to cause devastating epidemics.

All States Parties are expected to domesticate the convention. In Africa, Kenya is miles ahead as far as the domestication of the convention is concerned.

Kenya has prepared a draft Biosciences Policy and Biosciences Bill which has been shared with stakeholders and policy makers. The country also developed biotechnology awareness (BioAWARE) Strategy to inform stakeholders of the uses of biotechnology; established National Biosafety Authority in 2009 to ensure and assure safe application and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs); developed regulations on safe handling, use, import, export and transit of GMOs; established Biotechnology institutions at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenyatta University, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. However, the country still needs to do more in terms of capacity building in bioinformatics, disease surveillance, and nanotechnology and upgrading of public laboratories to Biosafety Level 3. Enacting the Biosciences Policy and Bill will therefore enhance domestication of the BTWC in the country in line with requirements of the new Constitution that all treaties that Kenya has ascended to must be part of the country’s Laws.

The legal framework will also catalyze research in biological sciences for the benefit of society. There is need to equally strengthen the basic sciences to generate knowledge and contribute to global knowledge pool.