The Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) has blocked two Kenyan universities from admitting new students in Tanzania citing failure to meet set minimum standards.
Kenyatta University (KU) and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) are among 17 others that were blacklisted by the country’s higher education agency.
TCU commissioned a probe last year found that quality of education offered at the institutions was below the set standards.
TCU’s acting executive secretary, Eliuther Mwangeni, said the agency carried out the universities’ inspection between September and October 2016.
The two Kenyan Universities are located in Arusha. The new directive affects new students planning to join in September. Continuing students will have their learning continue normally.
JKUAT’s acting administration officer in Arusha Elias Kizota, in response to the directive, noted they were unaware of such.
“As I’m speaking, my bosses are meeting TCU officers in Dar es Salaam on similar issues. We are surprised by the commission’s decision to release this list,” he told Tanzania’s Daily, The Citizen on Wednesday.
“Hopefully, the university will have something to comment on the management have concluded discussing with TCU,” he said.
The new directive from TCU has opened a new battlefront between the two universities with Kenyan politicians.
A few months ago, JKUAT and KU came under MPs wrath for allegedly spending fortunes in opening satellite campuses in other countries without the approval by Commission for University Education (CUE).
For example, JKUAT spent Sh10 million to set up its Arusha campus and Sh21 million in Kigali while KU spent sh53 million to open its Arusha campus and a further sh370 million to open its Kigali campus in Rwanda..