One of European Union’s leading fully online Business Schools- has today announced the recognition by the Government of Kenya of its accreditation and certification from Slovenia and the European Union.
Through the Commission of University Education (CUE), said it had applied the declaration of Bologna process on comparability in standards and quality with European Universities in recognizing the university’s accreditation.
Following the announcement, Kenyans can confidently join the institution as students. Other countries whose citizens have been pursuing bachelor and Masters Degrees with the Slovenian institution include Austria, Serbia and Germany as well as Ghana among nationals of 31 other countries.
Speaking during the announcement at the Nairobi Sankara, DOBA Business School Chairperson Ms. Jasna Dominko said the institution’s senate had delayed launching its programs in Kenya for a year to give the regulator time to review its credentials. “Although we are offering our fully online Bachelor and Masters programmes in many countries around the world, we have been careful to ensure that Kenya government recognizes our credentials. We thank the CEO of the Commission for University Education Prof David Some and his team of auditors for this decision. This recognition and our EU-certified quality in academic learning continue to support the success of our students around the world,” she said.
DOBA Faculty is known for a mode of fully online learning where students interact with their lecturers and professors through a set of technology tools and platforms over the internet. Most of its students are working executives who opt to study from their offices or home.
Speaking at the same event, Ms Irena Amic- Director of Academic Programmes said the Business School would now proceed to introduce in Kenya two programmes in the English language: the Masters in International Business Management and the bachelor in Marketing, Social Media and Public Relations.
“Our institution will invest slightly over USD 1 Million (Sh95 million) in the next 3 years to market these programmes. We hope to also launch public-private partnership program seeking to get employers in Kenya to endorse as “corporate responsibility” a policy on e-learning to encourage employees to sign up and study from office to acquire new skills in an international learning environment.”
“We are targeting companies that are signing off a lot of study leave time every year. Our typical clientele are the busy professionals who want to save time by studying from the comfort of their office as well as career mothers who want to study from home.”
The number of Kenyans studying online is expected to grow because Kenyans warmed faster to technology than other African countries.
“More than 25% of student around the world are studying online today. In Europe 30% of all student are studying online and it is projected that by 2025, the total number of student preferring to study online will hit 80 Million,” Ms Amic said citing figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).Kenyans have shown interest in the fully online learning model with DOBA recording over 600 inquires this year alone.
At least three Kenyan universities have launched some form of open learning to deliver the flexibility and convenience of distance learning to their student. DOBA, however said, the fully online learning model it offers varied from the form launched in the Kenyan market as everything from admission to graduation is done without any physical contact. “Unlike open learning, our classrooms are live, and students interact with each other, with tutors and professors everyday in a virtual learning environment.”
