It was in August last year that the then Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, William Ruto, issued an alert that there were a total 592 bogus colleges in Kenya and gave the tertiary institutions a 21-day notice to improve their status or face closure.

The ministry put pressure on middle level colleges to register or close down, and indeed some colleges which did not meet the required standards were actually closed down. “There is a very stringent mechanism that all these institutions are supposed to adhere to. They are supposed to be formally registered, to have an address with a lease, to make sure that they do not shift the next day,” minister Ruto was quoted as saying in a press conference.

Upon meeting the requirements, an institution is awarded either a provisional registration or full registration status as provided for by the Education Act Cap 211(1980). The provisional registration status is granted for 18 months only under Section 15(1) of the Act if the institution has met the minimum requirements, and before the 18 months period elapses, the institution is required to inform the ministry of its readiness for full registration.

That was 10 months ago, not 21 days. Now The Forum has found out that even though the investors in this key sector left no stone unturned in an effort to ensure that their institutions qualified for the registration, they are still waiting for registration forms from the ministry.

Coming from a ministry that is in charge of spearheading innovations and technology you would have thought that the provision of a relatively simple form would not be beyond them.

William Ruto has, as we’ve said, moved on, and anyway as surely all Forum readers will know he has other things on his mind at the moment what with running for President and popping off on his holidays to The Hague. So it’s up to the current Minister of Higher Education, Hellen Sambili to get the forms out. We’ll keep you posted.