November 29, 2010
Comparison between Public and Private Universties In Kenya
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General Comparison of Private and Public UniversitiesBoaz and Rachael both studying in Public and Private Universities respectively
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In Kenya University education is offered by both public and private institutions. Public universities are those funded by the government and are formed by an act of parliament, whereas private universities are run by either individual entities or religious organizations. Both private and public universities are chartered an interim letter of authority by the Commission of Higher Education. This paper highlights a comparison of public and private universities on various aspects such as quality of education, infrastructure, affordability, and discipline among students, moral issues and leadership.
Various aspects can be used to measure the quality of education such as tutors’ level of education, general student performance, graduand’s demand in the labour market since there is a general feeling that some institutions produce better students in some fields than others and infrastructure such as buildings and land.
The Commission of Higher Education regulates both institutions, so the quality of education may be standardized as they are formally accredited. Lecturers in both private and public universities are the same in some common units as some lecturers in the private universities part time programs are from public universities. This is a good mechanism which ensures quality in teaching and also helps in cost cutting measures. In Private Institutions, both lecturers and students tend to be more serious with the teaching and learning process because of the high fees and expenses the students incur. The resources used and the teaching/learning process is better than what one finds within Public Universities.
In Private Universities, the courses offered and skills they impart to the students are aligned to the job market requirements. This may not be the case in public universities which may still offer training in courses which are not relevant to the modern industry needs. Some of these courses offered by such institutions which do not address the current market trends make them less competitive in comparison with some private universities. Quality of education may be compromised in terms of delivery of lectures in public universities due to high lecturer to student ratio that is smaller in the private universities.
On infrastructure and other facilities, public universities have better buildings, bigger libraries and well developed facilities because they get funding from the government. A variety of programs are offered in these universities due to good and enabling infrastructure. For example, only public universities in Kenya have the facilities for engineering and agriculture courses. On the other hand, most private universities are affiliated to religious organizations and they are still striving for infrastructural growth and looking for sources of funding. For example apart from United States International University (USIU) that has the largest library, all others have small libraries. Generally with regard to infrastructure some private universities have an edge in some aspects as equipment, modern library facilities and use of information and communication technology than some public universities.
In terms of affordability, public universities are cheaper because the government subsidizes the major expenses like salaries, administrative costs, development funds and other major running expenses. When it comes to fees most students get loans from Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). In private universities, the tuition fee is too high because that money is used to cater for all major expenses. The universities put effort to enroll a large number of students inorder to raise more income to meet the large expenditure. This is achieved by introducing courses that are popular on employment market and that are not offered by public universities. For example Strathmore university recently introduced an executive Master of Business Administration. The church affiliated universities also get support for growth and expansion from religious organizations and through donations.
On the discipline issue among students the public universities have incidents such as strikes and demonstrations due to the large staff/student ratio that creates a big gap between students and management. Students cannot easily air their grievances. The regular program students may not be committed to learning because of subsidized fees and too much idle time so they may choose to use their time on such strikes and demonstrations. Lack of good administration, proper food in their cafeterias and good amenities may also cause such strikes. In private universities, the small staff/student ratio allows students to freely air their views hence defusing tension and so there may be no strikes or demonstrations, and that is why most excel well in their studies.
Moral issues with regard to alcohol, drugs, immorality and code of dressing are more prevalent in public universities because of too much idle time, the hostel setting within the university and peer influence. Students tend to engage in immorality, drug and alcohol abuse. In private universities, all these vices are more controlled because in most of these universities students attend lectures and leave, students are also closely monitored. There are fewer cases of adverse malpractices within the campus setting and the students are highly motivated to successfully complete their studies hence the rate of dropout is lower than that of public universities. Students are more controlled by systems being put in place like strict code of conduct in terms mode of dressing. In some Universities, tattoos and ear piercing for men and women is not allowed. Most of these issues are addressed at orientation or in student handbooks or brochures.
Leadership in public universities is by a Vice Chancellor who is appointed by the Head of State, whereas in private universities the Vice Chancellor is appointed by the Board of Governors and Trustees. Student leaders’ elections in public universities are more open and are proceeded by intense campaigns and voting and the leaders have more power than those in private universities.
In conclusion, both private and public Universities have a role to play in imparting knowledge and skills to students; the choice of university is more of individual preference, financial ability, religious affiliation, and area of specialization. These views do not rank which sector is superior to the other.
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