German institutions have urged Kenyans seeking scholarships to study locally or abroad to reach out saying they are offering hundreds of scholarships to university students.
The scholarship is available for under graduate students, Masters Level as well as PhD scholars from the East African region, including refuges.
The institutions include the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), whose representation in Nairobi started as a small adjunct office in September 1973 which has now grown into a fully-fledged DAAD Regional Office for Africa.
The Institutions made their presentations at the Second International Conference on Peace, Security and Social Enterprise held at Mount Kenya University (MKU) in Thika saying 10 million people of its population are foreigners seeking scholarships or working in the Country.
According to Laura Bake, Director Study Access Alliance, Germany they have a scholarship programme for 100,000 high-quality online degrees at internationally accredited universities.
The Alliance offers a comprehensive programme powered by its partners for full university scholarships for high-quality online Bachelor, Master and MBA degrees at Germany’s largest university.
“With a focus on access for women, we offer students a support programme on digital learning methods, empowerment, entrepreneurship, career and soft skills and links to the job market. Our goal is to make university education accessible for everyone” Baker said.
Head of Academic at Nuremburg Campus in Germany, Prof David Rempel said the IU International University (IU) is Germany’s largest university with 80,000 students and has the world’s largest online degree portfolio.
“The entire online degree portfolio is eligible for scholarships. You can get the full experience at no cost for students as partners cover tuition,” he told the delegates.
The 2010 cooperation agreement between the Kenyan Ministry of Higher Education, implemented by the NRF and the DAAD was renewed in 2017 and extended in 2021 for another three intakes.
The program aims to achieve capacity building at universities in Kenya and since the first intake in 2011, 139 scholarships have been awarded in total.
DAAD remains the world’s largest funding organization for international exchange and is an independent organisation of German higher education institutions and their student bodies devoted to internationalising the academic system.
MKU Council Chairman Prof David Serem urged Kenyans to take advantage of the scholarships saying it’s the easiest way to access quality education.
At the same time, Prof Serem said the university will continue to support all activities that promote peace and education in the country, regionally and globally.
“We are committed in fully supporting all activities geared in promoting peace and especially those involving youth. This is why most of our programmes are self-job creating oriented,” He said.