A Critical Analysis of Master of Education Degree Programme in the Department of Educational Foundations in Selected Public Universities in Kenya From 1993 to 2014

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the growth and development of Masters Degree programmes in Departments of Educational Foundations in selected Kenyan public universities in from 1993 to 2014. The study had three research objectives namely; to establish the enrolment of Masters Degree students in the Masters Degree programmes between 1993 to 2014, to document trends in the recruitment of academic staff of the Masters Degree programme as from 1993 to 2014, and to determine the number of graduates of the Masters Degree and their recruitment as academic staff in the selected Kenyan Public Universities. The reviewed literature found that the expansion of the existing public universities and the establishment of new ones had brought new challenges in the education sector. These challenges include the concerns about the academic staff establishment, the enrolments of students into the Masters Degree programmes, the number of graduates of Masters Degree programmes and those absorbed into careers in public universities. This study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature and relied upon the document analysis, interview guides and questionnaires to collect the data objectively hence the utilization of historical research method. Kenyatta University, Moi University and the University of Nairobi were purposively selected as they were the oldest public universities in Kenya with developed schools of education required for the study. The sample size constituted 3 heads of department, 3 academic registrars and 59 academic staff. A total of 25 respondents responded to the interview schedules and 34 questionnaires were used in the analysis of the study. The findings established that the three departments had a total of 32 academic staff teaching the Masters Degree programmes and a total of 460 students who had enrolled for the studies between1993 and 2014. In addition the findings established that the departments had employed Masters Degree graduates as academic staff and the departments had inadequate teaching staff in the Educational Foundations courses. In order to address the shortage of academic staff levels, the study recommends that universities to invest in human resource development, capacity building of the human resource and a comprehensive policy framework on enrolments students in relation to the workload of the teaching staff.