JKUAT Vice Chancellor, Prof. Victoria Wambui Ngumi has urged institutions of higher learning to establish structures and systems that will harness opportunities arising from information and communication technologies
“We live in times with unique labour needs imposed by globalization, the development of knowledge societies and a rise of new technologies that have significantly increased the demand for higher education. This has given rise to unprecedented mobility of students, academics and programs forcing higher learning institutions to rethink their internationalization policies,” said Prof. Ngumi in a speech read by the Principal, College of Pure and Applied Sciences, Prof. George Thiong’o.
The Vice Chancellor made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the 6th Africa Regional Workshop on internationalization in higher education held virtually, Tuesday, September 20, 2022.
The regional workshop on internationalization was jointly organized by JKUAT in collaboration with Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD), and University of Hannover under the auspices of the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES).
Prof. Ngumi informed the participants that JKUAT had made a number of commitments and action plans to enhance global visibility as epitomized in her vision including the increase in the enrolment of foreign students and enhanced exchanges among faculty and staff with other countries.
She pointed out that by hosting the Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation, Africa-ai-Japan project and the Sino-African Joint Research Centre, JKUAT had transformed into an authentic hub of training, research, innovation, as well as cultural diversity and integration
While highlighting the success of the training workshop in terms of the number they have trained, the Director of the DAAD Regional Office, Dr. Beate Schindler-Kovat said the objective of the programme was to build competence of University staff to manage processes and tasks of internationalization in the area of higher education.
“The programme has fostered competencies of academic staff and contributed to the enhancement of institutional management of universities. It has enhanced the alignment of education to international quality standards and strengthened research capacity of higher education,” said Dr. Schindler.
DIES has so far trained five cohorts with 30 participants each, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 150.
According to the JKUAT DIES Coordinator, Prof. John Wesonga, the programme seeks to enable the participants to build up improved and more effective structures of internationalization at their home universities.
Source: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology