IUC with Moi University (Kenya)
The VLIRUOS programme for Institutional University Cooperation (IUC) is an interuniversity cooperation programme of Flemish universities, which started in 1997. Based on a system of programme funding provided by the Belgian government, the IUC programme is directed at a limited number of partner universities in the South. The IUC programme focuses on the institutional needs and priorities of the partner universities in the South and is, in principle, demand oriented, seeking to promote local ownership through the full involvement of the partner both in the design and in the implementation of the programme.
This report contains the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the final evaluation of the IUC programme at Moi University in Kenya, which began in 2007. The evaluation commission consisted of Julie Carpenter, Director and Principal Consultant at Education for Change Ltd., as the International Expert and Team Leader, and Dr Andrew Riechi, Senior Lecturer at University of Nairobi and Consultant on Education as the Country Expert.
The report represents the views of this evaluation commission and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of VLIRUOS. Through the knowledge and experience of Dr Riechi the evaluation commission was already very familiar with changing Kenyan higher education context and the place of Moi University within that context. Julie Carpenter was briefed and updated by the VLIRUOS and held meetings and discussions with the Flemish IUC project leaders prior to the field mission to Kenya. All relevant documentation on the IUC programme was also provided by VLIR-UOS and reviewed by the commission in detail.
In the view of the evaluation commission, the IUC programme at Moi University can be considered as a qualified success, implemented under challenging and changing circumstances in the rapidly changing higher education sub-sector in Kenya, in which teaching has traditionally taken precedence over research. Despite the challenges, the IUC programme has contributed significantly to bringing changes in the research and teaching culture in Moi University, in collaboration with external government and industry stakeholders and in community extension of the benefits of research.