And by the way, CHE is one step ahead. Last year they embarked on a harmonization process in the area of ICT which was successfully concluded. It went by the name CATS (CREDIT ACCUMULATION AND TRANSFER SYSTEM PROJECT) where the east African universities were invited to harmonize their curricula.

On matters ICT, two programmes were analysed i.e. Computer science and IT. The minimum core knowledge was developed and bench marked with international standards. The purpose of this was to ensure that a graduate in computer science in any of the east African countries was globally accepted and could move their credits from one university to another without any difficulties as long as they do not transfer more that 49% of the total programme course credits. However, there was still enough room left for every university to express themselves in the output of their graduates.

In this process, the different university programmes for the two programmes were brought to the table and analyzed with the aim of coming up with a harmonized document. This document was then presented to other stakeholders including industry players at a workshop held at KSMS. It was not an easy task but it was worth it. Therefore, every programme presented to CHE is compared with the output of that process. This ensures that any person from any university in EA having a degree in CS or IT has met the minimum international standards of a computer science or IT degree. The effect of that process may take some time as the EA slowly becomes one.

Of interest is to note that different universities have different strengths in their programmes e.g. one university's was a little biased on the maths side while another was biased on engineering aspects (both coming from the fact that they may have either a strong maths background or a strong eng background)...nothing wrong with either as long as the minimum requirements are met.

CHE will make its presence felt even more especially when the bill comes into effect. For now, it cannot flex its muscle concerning public universities.

This is just to inform you that CHE is not sleeping on the job (I don't represent them). I know of the projects they have been running and therefore it should not be assumed that they are doing nothing.

Thanks

On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 9:58 AM, [Brainiac] <arebacollins@gmail.com> wrote:
Old school professors => bad curriculum. (by assignment)

its equivalent to wine, wineskins, old and bad....


On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 9:49 AM, One Murithi <o0murithi@gmail.com> wrote:
My brief views on this:

- The curriculum could be leaner (see the UoN-SCI course bronchure,
available at the reception)

- The end result of the programme is largely up to an individual
 -- At UoN-SCI, there was (I suppose this is still the case)
sufficient literature (books) for any student with the intention of
empowering self in useful CS skills.
 -- I actually found a course like Automata actually useful (Did some
reading after classes)

- A missing element "might" have been lack of pulse with the "CS in
practice". I suppose first years should be baptized with the fire of
skunkworks or similar communities or the experiences of past students
instead. (Maybe Phares can arrange to have meetups within campuses -
there is more room)

---
Also, since universities are keen on keeping down costs, it is only
practical that labs run on open source (or free) operating systems -
UoN felt like another enterprise stuck with Windows.

On 2/24/11, Kamiru Mwangi Samuel <samuel.kamiru@gmail.com> wrote:
> Andrew ...exactly my point....
>
> On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 10:34 PM, Andrew Wachira <washirah@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Peter - thats because they are not I.T graduates.. Computer Science is
>> more
>> of the fundamentals behind the tools and not necessarily usage of tools
>> like
>> in I.T courses.. stop wasting your sadness!
>>
>>
>> On 21 February 2011 17:48, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Some interns at my place of work, fresh from campus, didn't know how to
>>> install centos. They also didnt know that one can install virtualbox and
>>> install centos on top of it without touching the guest windows 7, made me
>>> rather sad coz I assumed these were basic skills.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 7:16 PM, Simon Mbuthia
>>> <simon.mbuthia@gmail.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello techies,
>>>>
>>>> I have been invited by my Alma Mater for a brainstorming session with a
>>>> view to improve their Computer Science degree program. I thought it
>>>> would be
>>>> a good thing to first of all hear from employers and supervisors of
>>>> Computer
>>>> Science degree holders what they think most graduates lack that would be
>>>> worth considering when coming up with a computer science degree program.
>>>>
>>>> Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Muchas gracias,
>>>>
>>>> Me.
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Behind Google
>> Chrome!<http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/big_00.html>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Kamiru Mwangi,
>
> 0721792419
> Skype: samuel.kamiru
>
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