The project started in 2013 with a Linkoping-planning trip and a five years’ agreement was written between the two Universities. In 2018 the agreement was prolonged for five years. The MOU was signed by the Vice Chancellor on behalf of the University. The partnership has grown stronger mainly because different lecturers and students have been able to participate in the exchange over the past years. Overall, the School of Education, College of Education and External Studies has sent more than 12 students and 10 teachers on exchange-trips to Linköping University. We have received 8 lecturers and 11 students from Linkoping University. Application for students’ and lecturers' exchange program is not restricted to one department/ school. Our students are introduced to the intensive beginner’s course in Swedish and this helps students improve their Swedish language proficiency and broaden their knowledge of Swedish society. They also acquire a deeper knowledge of important basic grammar as well as elementary working vocabulary. An exchange student stays in the host country for a period of 6 months. Exchanges for lecturers can last anywhere between three weeks up to four weeks. Meanwhile, however, Linkoping University has been granted funding from STINT to initiate the Project SWEARC. The project is a collaboration between three Universities in Sweden and four universities in East Africa. The collaboration agreement is entered by and between the University of Nairobi, College of Education and External Studies and Linkoping University. The goal is to improve the quality of higher education in East Africa by establishing a center for online-based education and research. The project is ongoing.
Study-visit at school of Education, CEES-
The Swedish Council for Higher Education, UHR, is a government agency tasked with providing support to the education sector through a number of various activities. The council is located in Stockholm and Visby and visited the School of Education on November 12th, 2019 to evaluate the student exchange and study program. The meeting was held in the School of Education, Kikuyu, Nairobi. Prof Lewis Ngesu and several of his colleagues welcomed the visitors and they had the privilege to meet with the Principal.
UHR’s areas of responsibility are:
- providing information prior to higher education studies, managing the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test, producing regulations, and coordinating the admissions process to higher education,
- developing and managing IT systems and electronic services for the education sector,
- facilitating international exchange and training across the entire educational spectrum
- recognising foreign qualifications and
- promoting widening participation and working for equal rights and opportunities in higher education
The exchange subjects
The exchange subjects are in Social Sciences.eg History and political science, Economics, Philosophy and Religion, Geography and Science Education. In some cases, we consider Sociology and Mathematics.
Dissemination
A progress report is written at the end of each activity showing what has been achieved to the sponsor. At conferences and meetings, discussion is anchored on partnership and there are forums for students to share their experiences with other students. We engage other employees and the management of higher education institutions by inviting them for workshops/conferences. In addition, visiting lecturers share their own experiences in these forums.
Contacts
The University of Nairobi’s contact person is Lewis Ngesu.
Linkoping University’s contact person is Per-Olof Hansson.
The contact person is authorised to receive notices and make decisions on routine issues relating to the Memorandum of Understanding between Linkoping University and the University of Nairobi. As we celebrate University of Nairobi@ 50, Linkoping University is part and parcel of the success story.
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