Embu University Ranked Best In Kenya As UoN & KU Miss out
All Kenyan universities failed to make the top 100 list in the Times Higher Education’s inaugural Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) university rating, which was published on Monday, June 26.
The leading university in Kenya, the University of Embu, was ranked 16th on the continentwide rating, while Makerere University in Uganda was ranked fifth.
Other Kenyan universities on the list included Rongo University (25), Kibabii University (36), Kabarak University (42), the University of Kabianga, Maasai Mara University, and Riara University.
Popular universities such as the University of Nairobi (UoN), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), and Kenyatta University (KU) were not present.
Notably, Ashesi University in Ghana, which conducted the study, stated that it only ranked the 121 universities that contributed data for the project. That meant that prominent universities like UoN were ineligible because they had not provided the data.
Also Read:Â List of top 10 universities in Kenya
“In this first edition, 88 universities from 20 countries are ranked.” “An additional 33 institutions are listed because they provided data but did not meet our eligibility criteria for receiving a rank,” the ranking team said.
Applied Methodology
The approach employed in the rating, which included 121 universities, comprises five essential pillars: resources and finances, access and fairness, teaching skills, student participation, and African effect.
South Africa had four universities in the top ten, including the first two, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Johannesburg. Tanzania had two, while Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Ghana each had one.
According to the organisers, private institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa were both flexible and efficient, often going above and beyond to track their graduates’ development.
“Public and private higher education institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa complement each other in providing quality education for the masses,” Laté Lawson, research manager at Charity Education Sub-Saharan Africa, noted.
Pauline Rose, professor of international education at the University of Cambridge and director of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning Centre, bemoaned the institutions’ underfunding, high faculty-to-student ratios, and a lack of time and money for research.
The top three universities on the list were South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa’s University of Johannesburg, and Tanzania’s Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science.
Previous Placement
In a previous rating by Webometrics rating of World Universities in February 2023, UoN was rated 14 in Africa, trailing Makerere University, which was ranked 13.
The University of Cape Town was classified among the top 100 African universities at the time. To compile the ranking, Webometrics examines the institution’s excellence, openness, and effect.
Globally, the top 10 universities on Webometrics were dominated by the United Kingdom and the United States.
Another ranking released on May 15 by the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR) stated that UoN had slipped 20 places in the global list.
Education, employability, professor rank, and research rank were the four metrics used. UoN graduates were said to have a difficult time adjusting to the work market.
Embu University Ranked Best In Kenya As UoN & KU Miss out
