Senior staff members of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through its In-Country/In-Region scholarship program recently visited Kenyatta University to hand over scholarship certificates to the 2016 group of Masters and Doctoral students. Kenyatta University has partnered with DAAD since 2015 through its In-Region scholarship program with the objective of promoting the development of university teaching staff and building capacity for staff in public sector through postgraduate training for select postgraduate study programmes. Specifically DAAD has supported students undertaking both Msc and PhD in Biotechnology, Renewable Energy and Environmental Planning and Management. Additionally DAAD also funds students to study for Masters in Integrated Watershed Management, a special program that is a regional center of excellence in watershed management.
During the handover of certificates, DAAD was represented by Dr Ruth Fuchs, Head of Monitoring; Mr. Bonface Nyagah, the Programme Officer and Mr. Ryne Jirongo, Assistant Administrator. In her remarks, Dr. Fuchs lauded Kenyatta University for the excellent administration and management of the scholarship program and specifically pointed out the strong support that the university management had accorded the students. She further advised the students to be on the lookout for the many career advancement opportunities that are available including attending short summer trainings in Germany and the opportunity to further spend six months in a German University of choice to complete their studies. On his part, the Programme Office
Mr. Bonface, expressed satisfaction with the overall running of the programme and especially the great cooperation he had with the students even those with language barriers. He further informed the students on the need to renew their scholarship award in time and also to aggressively pursue the many opportunities that are available for their career progression.
The 2016 cohort group consisted of 15 students from different universities in Kenya and 6 students from Tanzania, Rwanda, Somali (2), Benin and Ethiopia. In their remarks the students expressed their excitement for the opportunity to study in Kenya and specifically at Kenyatta University. The students gave varied informed reasons for choosing Kenyatta University over other universities ranging from the excellent and modern facilities to the quality of teaching staff and the general popularity of the University’s name. To further demonstrate the popularity of the university, one foreign student informed the meeting that he had two scholarships, one to study in a University in Nigeria and the other one to study at Kenyatta University but chose the latter. The handover of the certificates was witnessed by among others Dr. Maina Mwangi (Director, Research Support and coordinator of the DAAD program) and Prof. Joy Obado (coordinator of the Integrated Watershed Management program).