Karatina University had the privilege of hosting a training workshop for university leaders to train the newly appointed Vice-Chancellors and Principals of university colleges from 24th to 27th April, 2019 at Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge in Naivasha. The training workshop was jointly organised by the Kenya DAAD scholars on behalf of DAAD and the Commission for University Education (CUE). It was supported by DAAD, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany), Dialogue in Higher Education Strategies (DIES) and German Rector Conference (HRK). The theme of the workshop was “Developing Transformative, Visionary and Effective University Leaders”. The workshop was co-odinated by the Deputy Vice- Chancellor (ARSA), Prof. P. Aloo- Obudho who is also the Chairman of the Kenya DAAD Scholars Association, Mount Kenya Region Chapter. Prof. P. Aloo-Obudho also coordinated the development of the Guide for Training University Leaders (GTUL).
The workshop attracted sixteen (16) participant out of the twenty (22) who were invited. The participants were taken through various topics including University Governance, University Environment and Leadership Principles, among others. Participant were drawn from both Public and Private Universities. The workshop was opened by Dr. Mogaka Ogutu (Director of University Education) on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education, Prof. G.A. Magoha. Dr. Mogaka also lunched the Training Guide for University Leaders on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary.
In his speech, the Cabinet Secretary appreciated the initiative of training newly appointed University leaders and stressed the importance of such trainings to equip the leaders with the relevant skills. He put emphasis on the resource mobilization by Universities since government funding to Universities has gone down. He challenged Universities to seek for alternative sources of funding to be able to achieve their mandate. The CS also appreciated the efforts by DAAD towards promoting quality in higher education and the Kenya DAAD Scholars Association (KDSA) for organising regular conferences to discuss topical issues on higher education. He urged the KDSA members to continue with the dialogue on quality issues facing higher education in Kenya.
Karatina University was represented in the workshop by the Vice–Chancellor, Prof. Mucai Muchiri and the Chairman of Council, Dr. Kobia Ataya. The Vice-Chancellor in his remarks decried the reduced funding to universities and the difficult financial situation facing universities. In his remarks, the Chairman of Karatina University Council said he was happy that his university is associated with the training workshop for University leaders. He thanked the organizers and asked them to extend the same training to Council members. The outgoing DAAD Director thanked the team that organized the workshop under the leadership of Prof. P. Aloo-Obudho and urged them to keep the candle of quality in higher education burning. Also present in the workshop was the CEO for Commission for University Education, Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi and the Deputy Director of DAAD, Ms. Margret Kirai.
Due to the co-ordination role played by Karatina University, the workshop gave the university good publicity especially after the press interviewed the Vice –Chancellor, Prof. Muchiri Mucai on challenges facing higher education in Kenya. The training brought out a strong image of the university with regard to training University leaders on leadership and management of higher education institutions. Based on the feedback received from the participants, they indicated that the training will help them sharpen their leadership skills.