Kenyan Kiswahili, English Teachers Needed in Rwanda, Burundi And CAR.

MKU VC Prof. Stanley Waudo receiving the EAC Treaty of Establishment from Yves Nsabimana of Burundi.

Rwanda, Burundi and the Central African Republic (CAR) have announced plans to start importing Kiswahili and English teachers from Kenya due to an acute shortage. As a result, institutions of higher learning in the country have been challenged to take advantage by producing enough graduates to fill the gap.

This call was made by Burundi’s East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member, Yves Nsabimana when he was speaking at Mount Kenya University (MKU) main campus in Thika where during a public lecture on East African Community integration.

“We want graduates from universities to teach Kiswahili and English in Rwanda and Burundi who have an acute shortage of teachers in these subjects. In turn, we will teach Kenyans to speak French, which is the common language in central Africa. We believe that this will promote rapid and solid regional cooperation between the EAC member countries, thus help in fostering regional integration,” said Nsabimana.

He urged the guests, who were mostly teachers on school-based programmes, to take the EALA awareness campaign on regional integration back to their school and communities.

Mumbi Ng’aru (EALA Member, Kenya), appealed to MKU students to market themselves in the region, noting that the region had a market of 172 million people.

Another member, Joseph Kiangoi said that the EALA had already passed many legislations geared towards fast-tracking the EAC, where South Sudan is now the sixth member.

“Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea might also join EAC,” he said.

MKU has campuses and centres in four countries that make up the EAC Partner states—Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi and attracts students from CAR and beyond. It also partners with Gulu University, Kyambogo University and Makerere School of Business in Uganda.

Meanwhile, e-learning is gaining popularlity globally due to its convenience and relative ease of funding. Most adult students are opting for this option as it also saves on time and allows one to focus on work or family.

More than 25%of students around the world are already studying online.

  

Doba Business School Director of International Relations, Polona Baloh advises Kenyans to seek suitable online facility that has international range accreditation, length of course and overall quality of content.

“At Doba, it is much more than listening to the recordings of professors’ lectures. Students study in a virtual learning environment with the help of forums, chat rooms, wikis, social networks and other Internet tools which enable them to be always connected with their study peers,” she says.

Established in 2003, Doba Business School is a fully accredited European college run by the Slovenian Government.

“From your first day on, through the whole process of graduation and beyond, you have access to an extensive support team consisting of tutors, who are available 24/7, professors, the school’s staff and technical support,’’ she says.