By James Wakahiu
Mount Kenya University (MKU) has been awarded a quality
assurance standard by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs).
Prof David Serem, chairman of the university council, says the
ISO Certification allows the growth and quality of education
to spread fully across the whole university, so that it becomes
embedded within all the systems and processes that are used
across all campuses, schools, and within all offices whether
within the country or outside the country,” he said.
MKU has campuses, marketing and Open, Distance, and e-
Learning (ODeL) Centres across the country and in the wider
East African region. “Moreover, other partner institutions will
desire to collaborate with an ISO Certified institution,” Prof
Serem said.
The ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management System
recertification ceremony took place at a Kiambu hotel last
weekend and was led by Eng Zachariah Lukorito, Kebs chief
manager, standards development, and trade.
The university chancellor, Prof John Struthers, who was
accompanied by his wife, Mrs Justina Vida Struthers, said
having been part of the university leadership for several years
now, he understood the immense work that has been put into
achieve re-certification of the ISO 9001. “This standard in the
educational field evaluates and certifies all processes related
to teaching and student learning in order to guarantee the
quality of the educational institutions,” he said.
The chancellor said this is key in an increasingly competitive
the environment being experienced in Kenya and globally.
“Given the ever-increasing competition among universities in
the world today, the ISO 9001 Certified institutions are able to
compete strongly in the face of this competition. This enables
the University to stand out, to have a higher international
rating, and to attract more reputable stakeholders, both
students and partners,” he added.
Applauding the university council, management board, senate
and staff of MKU for getting certified, Kebs managing
director Esther Ngari said the re-certification of ISO 9001
comes after three years. “It will boost the university’s mission
of ‘providing world-class education, research, and innovation
for global transformation and sustainable development
shaped by MKU’s vision of being a global hub of excellence
in education, research and innovation,” she said.
Kebs provides standardization, metrology, and conformity
assessment services that safeguard consumers and facilitate
trade for sustainable development. “With this certification,
you are squarely putting the university on the world map in
terms of quality academic programmes and graduating of
students with international quality standards,” Ngari added in
a speech read on her behalf by Eng Lukorito
The MD said the re-certification marks yet another beginning
of a journey towards delivering quality service and enhancing
the institution’s sustainability against the backdrop of disruptions
such as national and global economic uncertainties, stiff
global competition, new demands from the youth, and changes
in technology. “I have no doubt that Mount Kenya University
will be able to overcome these challenges in both the learning
and business operating environment,” she said.
The ISO certificate entails the development of a
management system is dedicated to enabling the university to
attain its set objectives. “It is central to enabling MKU to meet
its quality systems and improvement of service delivery led
by leadership,” she added.
She urged the institution’s management to ensure integration
of the QMS into the organization's business processes and to
assign the responsibilities and authorities for ensuring that
processes are delivering their intended outputs. QMS helps
leaders at all levels in an organization to establish unity of
purpose and direction, align their strategies, policies,
processes and resources to achieve its objectives.
Ngari said the achievement of the UN Agenda 2030(SDGs)
and Kenya’s vision 2030 in a world that is recovering from
the COVID-19 pandemic requires accelerated and coordinated
efforts by all stakeholders and government agencies. “One
important lesson stemming from the covid-19 pandemic is
that we need to build and strengthen our resilience to the risks
associated with extreme events of such nature,” she said.
Ngari said post-pandemic policies need to integrate planning
for resilience and risk management. “The biggest risk is losing
years of growth efforts to one major external shock. To build
back better, over the medium and long term, this ISO
certification provides a viable framework and solution,” she
noted.
The MD encouraged the students, the university staff
members, parents, guardians and even suppliers, among others,
to embrace the implementation of the new ISO re-certification
and learn from the benefits it offers. “Kebs will continue to
offer guidance and advice that will enable you to improve on
quality management system development, management
system documentation review, pre-audit, and initial
assessment and clearance of non-conformances,” she said.
Prof Serem said the university council will continue to
support the university management to promulgate policies;
adopt best practices; and put in place systems and structures
that will make MKU a giant in quality assurance.
“MKU is committed to the provision of world-class education,
research and innovation for individual transformation and
sustainable development. In pursuit of this commitment, the
university shall continually monitor its context and ensure
compliance with all applicable requirements and continually
improve on its effectiveness by implementing a quality
management system based on ISO 9001:2015,” he added.
Dr. Jane Nyutu, a founder member of the MKU board of
directors, thanked the university leadership led by Vice-
Chancellor, Prof Deo Jaganyi for achieving the ISO
certification. “I recognise the support Kebs has given us since
2012 when we got the first certification of ISO 9001:2008
standard version. Thank you very much Madam Esther Ngari
for the support that you have given to us. You are a valuable
partner. The Board continues to support the University
Management through injecting resources, especially ICT
infrastructure necessary to ease the service delivery and
promote quality delivery. We have also ensured that adequate
resources are allocated to physical developments.
On his part, Prof Jaganyi said MKU has a holistic approach to
quality assurance, covering all the processes in the institution,
in order to serve, to create, and maintain customer satisfaction
by understanding the customer’s preferences and needs. “Our
directorate of quality assurance conducts surveys and
evaluations every semester to receive feedback from our
students on the standards levels of our service delivery,” he
said.
Jaganyi said the institution has reaped multiple benefits from
the ISO certification, including enhanced customer
satisfaction and culture development. “We are committed to
ensure compliance with the ISO 9001:2015 standards and
other internal and external regulatory requirements and we are
grateful for the continued support from Kebs,” he added.
MKU pro-chancellor Dr Vincent Gaitho said the certification
means the university management and staff are taking on more
responsibility in the institution.
