This archive report was first published on 16 December 2019.
On December 16, 2019, the Commission for University Education (CUE) faced a setback in its efforts to enforce a directive requiring lecturers to hold PhD degrees. The Labour Court had quashed the directive earlier that week.
According to CUE chairman Chacha Nyaigoti Chacha, the commission is reviewing the guidelines and will engage with lecturers before establishing acceptable standards.
"We will sit with the University Academic Staff Union (Uasu) officials to get their input, but we must maintain quality," Prof Nyaigoti said.
The regulations, developed in 2014, had required lecturers without PhD degrees to vacate their positions by October 2019. However, the court ruled that the lecturers, as primary stakeholders, were not consulted during the development of the rules.
A report released by CUE earlier in the year revealed that a majority of lecturers hold master's degrees. The report showed that 53 per cent of academic staff have a master's qualification, while PhD holders make up just 32 per cent.
Uasu had filed a case against the Employment and Labour Relations Court, arguing that the harmonised criteria and guidelines for appointment and promotion of lecturers were invalid, as they breached the Constitution and the 2007 Employment Act.
