Students who enrol at the institution would access the
courses online at affordable rates. According to the Ministry of Education, the
Open University of Kenya would incorporate technology to make learning
flexible.
Additionally, the graduates will lead in academia, research,
and leadership and will provide the expertise required in the public and
private sectors for socio-economic transformation nationally, regionally and
globally.
"The University will draw on flexible entry criteria as
well as a variety of cutting-edge technologies to expand access to university
education cost-effectively," The Ministry of Education stated.
"The Open University of Kenya will offer a number of
academic programmes progressively to produce graduates who are critical
thinkers, practical-oriented, creative and innovative," it added.
During its first phase of establishment, the Open University
of Kenya would offer both degree and diploma courses in different technical
areas.
The degree courses listed include a Bachelor of Science in
Cyber Security and Digital Forensics, a Bachelor of Technology Education and a
Bachelor of Science in Business and Entrepreneurship.
Others include a Bachelor of Data Science, a Bachelor of
Economics and Statistics, and a Bachelor of Science in Agri-technology and Food
Systems.
The institution will also offer lower courses including
Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership and Accountability and Postgraduate Diploma
in Learning Design and Technology.
To enable President William Ruto to open the university, the
Ministry of Education, led by Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, invited a
consultancy exercise.
The consultant is set to help the government articulate
programme learning outcomes, and identify and sequence courses within the
various programme architectures; where individuals have expertise.
Besides revealing the programme's outcome, the government
argued that it would help experts research and create original content for
individual courses.
It would also help them incorporate various delivery support
materials such as case studies, simulations, webinars, videos, practical
exercises, journal articles and other references.
Ruto had planned to set up the Open University in his 100
days in power. Despite missing the deadline, plans are at an advanced stage.