Team Member Name
Job Title
Transformation of Pharmacy and Chemistry Degree Provision in Kenya (SPHEIR)
Mid-term review of process and substance of ongoing curriculum reform of pharmacy and chemistry degree programmes tailored to actual labour-market needs enhancing graduate employability and capacity of academic staff in five universities in Kenya
Partner/Client
British Council
Focus
Higher Education
Expertise
Evaluation & Monitoring I Curriculum Review I Quality Assurance I Employability
Location
Kenya
Funding
UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) - formerly DFID
Status
Concluded (2020)
Link
CHALLENGE
_ The British Council leads the project ‘Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reform’ (SPHEIR) aiming to transform the quality, relevance, access and affordability of higher education.
_ The SPHEIR project in Kenya aims to raise the pharmacy and chemistry degree programmes to an internationally benchmarked standard. The project is led by the University of Nottingham, working with five Kenyan universities.
_ Paeradigms was commissioned to carry out a midterm evaluation of the ongoing curriculum review to develop a full understanding of the current status as well as barriers and enablers of the ongoing project in terms of structures, processes and substance.
APPROACH
_ The curriculum review involved several steps: (a) base line audit of project documentation and analysis of data generated through in-depth interviews and field observations during the field visits to Nairobi and Maseno in Kenya; (b) curriculum mapping and needs analysis of chemistry and pharmacy education; (c) review of extant governance structures and project management; (d) evaluation of the external communication strategy including stakeholder engagement and outreach.
_ The overarching themes of academic staff capacity, teaching methodology, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion measures for staff were considered throughout the evaluation.
_ After a thorough review of the curriculum reform, evaluating structures, processes, substance and quality of the project, Paeradigms went beyond programme indicators, providing an in-depth analysis of the barriers and enablers.
_ Analysed the status of curriculum and resource development and programme design that emerged from the curriculum review to synthesise results with respect to project objectives with cross verification through triangulation and a validation workshop to confirm findings.
RESULTS
_ The current status of the transformation of the pharmacy and chemistry degree programmes in Kenya towards an internationally recognised level was documented in terms of structures, process, substance, communication, with additional considerations provided beyond the scope of the base-line curriculum review.
_ The evaluation identified risks for the next phase and current gaps in achieving the aim of adhering to international benchmarks in the target programmes.
_ Concrete recommendations were elaborated detailing focus areas for the remaining project phase to ensure that the project delivers improved curricula in pharmacy and chemistry and contributes to economic growth in Kenya.
_ The full report outlines focus area, specific actions and potential risks for embedding curriculum review capacity in national universities such that this capacity can cascade to other departments and institutions.
PROJECT GALLERY
