International Collaborations and research
A delegation of nine faculty members from various schools at Mount Kenya University led by ACCESS Board Member and Deputy Vice-Chancellor APIA, Dr. Peter G. Kirira and MKU-ACCESS Coordinator, Dr. Henry Yatich have joined ACCESS Conference and Summer school in University of Tunis, Tunisia.
Mount Kenya University is a partner in the African Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support (ACCESS) project which is funded by DAAD through University of Leipzig, Germany.
The faculty has successfully disseminated both physical and online their research findings in a conference that is running from 1st to 5th October 2024 under the theme “Graduate unemployment in Africa: Towards a shift in paradigm” at Hammamet, Tunisia.
The conference was officially opened by Prof. Dr. Utz, Dornberger, Project Lead, at University of Leipzig Germany. During the opening ceremony, Prof. Utz announced that DAAD had approved the award for the roll-out of ACCESS 2.0 project that will be funded to a total cost of 4.5 million Euros.The new 5-year project will run from 2025-2029. The new funding will focus on more student-geared interventions to improve graduate employability and industry linkages.
MKU is the project lead in Kenya and had submitted tailor made measures including; Development of National Entrepreneurship curriculum leveraging AI application and Capstone Assignment, integration of Problem-Based Service Learning Modules to the MBA research component (Case Studies), and joint annual business idea competitions to be jointly run by 10 local universities: Zetech University, Karatina University, Strathmore University, Kenyatta University, Daystar University, Technical University of Kenya, Kabarak University, Riara University, KCA University, and Machakos University. This is the second summer School to be held this year, with the first one was held in Rwanda in January 2024. Overall, this is the 5th Summer School.
ACCESS 1.0 is a 3.7M Euro German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) promoted project under the Exceed initiative with funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The current project is implemented by a consortium of 7 universities (6 African Universities from Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tunisia and coordinated by Leipzig University-Germany.
The researchers who included: Dr. Emily Nyabisi, Dr. Josephine Kirimi, Dr. Jane Kanjuru, Ms. Rose Macharia, Mr. Tobias Ochieng, Ms. Elena Mwai, Mr. Joseph Machira, Mr. Peter Mbogo, Ms. Judy Nguru, Dr. Nancy Cheseto and Mr. Jared Mosoti presented topical findings physically and online on the following topics.
- Vocational Skills Development Programs (VSDP) Initiatives to Transform Jua Kali Sector: A Case of Equip Africa Institute Thika
- User Support in Enhancing Digitalization of Teaching and Learning for Quality Training in Higher Education Institutions
- Entrepreneurial Education for Employment and Economic Growth: a Case Study of Mount Kenya Enterprise Academy, Kenya
- The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Bridging Graduates Unemployment Gap through Job search in Kenya: Challenges and Opportunities
- Matching Quality Training and Employability in African University Systems: A Desktop Research
- Adoption of sustainable small business enterprises development for employability for hospitality students in Mount Kenya University
- The Head, Hands, and Heart of the Kenyan Legal Mind: Teaching Foundational Lawyering Competencies in Kenyan Law Schools
- Enhancing Graduate Employability Through Industry Involvement in Training and Development in African Universities: Case of Kenyan Universities
- Employability in Kenya Life-Long Learning and Industry Partnership
- Enhancing Employability of Computing Technology Graduates in Kenya
- Influence of Motivation on Technology Transfer in Higher Education Institutions