A Study Of The Governance System Of Private Higher Education In Kenya

Private higher education is the most dynamic and fastest growing segment of post-secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa since 21^st century. With the development of private higher education sector, its governance has become a common problem faced by African countries. Kenya is among the few African countries that have an early history of developing private higher education and a large scale of private higher education institutions. Kenya is also a pioneer in regard of governance system of private higher education. Based on field visit, interview, literature analysis and cast study, this study tries to present the external governance and internal management system of private higher education institutions in Kenya from a special perspective, i.e. private higher education in Africa. The purpose of this study is to explore the peculiarity of governance of private higher education in Africa, to enrich the theory of private higher education and to provide some lessons to be learnt from.This paper consists of five parts. In the first chapter, it puts forward the topic of study, makes a brief analysis of relevant literature in home and abroad, introduces the theoretical basis of this study, i.e. the triangle coordination model of state authority, market and academic authority, and at last presents the study methods and study significance. The second chapter introduces the development history of private higher education in Kenya through three stages. The third chapter analyses the governance of private higher education institutions in Kenya from four aspects, namely legal framework, accreditation system, performance evaluation and programme approval. The fourth chapter makes a conclusion of internal management feature of private higher education institutions in Kenya though the case studies of Daystar University and United States International University. And finally, the fifth chapter concludes some successful experience of the governance of private higher education institutions in Kenya, analyses the promise and challenge of private higher education in Kenya, and makes further suggestions concerning its disadvantages.Generally speaking, Kenya government plays an active supervising role in the governance of private higher education in Kenya. It constitutes a restrict legal framework, carries out university accreditation, programme approval and performance evaluation through Commission for Higher Education, which avoids direct interference and insures the quality of private higher education. As to internal management, the private higher education institutions in Kenya enjoy a great deal of autonomy. They incorporate market rules in school management, and lay emphasis on cost-effectiveness, management performance and competition ability. However, challenges such as fund, competition, teaching staff, programme and equity are still facing the private higher education sector. The government should perfect its role in governing private higher education institutions and take the traditional value and social function of higher education into consideration to make sure that higher education provided by those private higher education institutions accords with the local needs of Kenya.