STORY: Kenya launches Open University to deepen access to higher education
DATELINE: Aug. 5, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:56
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: EDUCATION/SOCIETY
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of exteriors of the open university
2. various of the awarding of charters
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenya's President
5. various of university staff and guests
6. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenya's President
7. various of university staff and guests
 
STORYLINE:
 
Kenya on Thursday launched its first Open University in a bid to make higher education affordable and accessible to most citizens.
 
President William Ruto, who inaugurated and awarded a charter to the Open University in Machakos County, some 70 km southeast of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, said the university opens a new chapter in the country's education sector, noting that for decades, the East African nation's higher education sector had failed to give citizens a chance to access learning opportunities due to limited availability of space in traditional institutions.
 
The Open University removes this challenge by taking courses online, which will cost a quarter of the minimum 200,000 shillings (about 1,401 U.S. dollars) that traditional universities charge, he said.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenya's President
"The simultaneous implementation of our open university and our digital super highway commitment demonstrates the internal coherence of the bottom-up economic transformation agenda and highlights the strategic complementarities between its pillars."
 
Ruto said the Open University hosted at Konza Technopolis, Kenya's Silicon Savannah, will help the country achieve a 100 percent transition to higher learning. The courses to be offered at the institution include Bachelor of Data Science, Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity and Bachelor of Technical Education.
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenya's President
"I will request the university to consider among the courses that the university should consider is the course in making Kenya multilingual. I think it's easy for us to learn French, Chinese, Arabic, and every other language online. It is our intention as a government to expand opportunities for the people of Kenya because we have the best human resource anywhere in the world."
 
Chaacha Nyaigotti-Chacha, the chairman of the Commission for University Education, said the Open University will provide flexibility and accessibility to learners unable to attend traditional universities. "The establishment of this university is timely as it provides learners with an alternative option to university education and will come in handy during disruptions as it happened during the COVID-19," he said.
 
Ezra Maritim, the chairman of the University Council, said the institution will repair injustices in university education, which saw the institutions lock out a majority of the poor and fail to recognize prior learning.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)