The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has underscored the importance of stakeholder involvement in improving the quality of trainings in universities.
MCK Director for Media Training and Development Mr Victor Bwire noted existing gaps in the industry, especially on the quality of training, and urged institutions to open up to emerging issues and ideas by adopting to current changes.
“There is a gap in training at university level that calls for stakeholder involvement to deliberate on ways to improve on quality”, said Mr Bwire when he met the Commission for University Education (CUE) Chief Executive Officer Prof Mike Kuria.
He added that adopting academic journals in learning institutions will help accelerate the dissemination of knowledge through high quality researched articles.
“A start in the form of an academic journal will be beneficial in universities to allow research publications from the industry to be published”, he said.
MCK Assistant Director for Training and Curriculum Development Ms Christine Nguku said MCK has inspected colleges to ascertain quality of journalism training.
She said that a partnership in developing progressive guidelines will be beneficial.
“We have a lot to benefit from the Commission for University Education in terms of how we apply and develop progressive guidelines. Additionally, our expertise is vital in developing a curriculum to review and make recommendations from an industry perspective”, said Ms Nguku.
Prof Kuria stated that a working relationship with professional bodies will enhance quality of training in universities. He mentioned that it is important for the Commission to consider certificate and diploma courses when developing guidelines at university level.
He also encouraged students to take up the free online courses from several universities to upgrade their skillset.
“We want to encourage students to take up free online courses from accredited universities to upgrade their experience. From a policy perspective, we want to get to a point where such certificates are a requirement”, said Mr Kuria.