•Application procedures and requirements are available online, but some of the organisations have offices in Nairobi.
•These include the German Academic Exchange Service whose representation in Nairobi started as a small adjunct office in September 1973.
Image: JOHN KAMAU:
German institutions have asked Kenyan university students studying or seeking to study locally or in European institutions to apply for scholarships.
The support is available for undergraduate students, Masters and PhD scholars from the East African region.
Application procedures and requirements are available online, but some of the organisations have offices in Nairobi.
These include the German Academic Exchange Service whose representation in Nairobi started as a small adjunct office in September 1973.
The call was made at Mount Kenya University during the second International Conference on Peace, Security and Social Enterprise, held last week.
Germany has a population of 83 million, of which 10 million are foreigners, including refugees.
The Study Access Alliance has a scholarship programme for 100,000 high-quality online degrees at internationally accredited universities.
“Our goal is to make university education accessible for everyone,” the director of Study Access Alliance, Germany said.
The alliance offers a comprehensive programme powered by its partners for full university scholarships for high-quality online Bachelors, Masters 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,” Baker said.
She said scholarships ease the burden of seeking school fees and some are prestigious and could help students acquire jobs faster due to their competitive nature.
“Scholarships help facilitate exchange programmes and international students. This provides access to information, equipment, and technology not readily available,” Baker said.
David Rempel, academic head at Nuremburg Campus, Germany, said the International University is Germany’s largest university with 80,000 students and the world’s largest online degree portfolio.
“The online degree portfolio is eligible for scholarships. You can get the full experience at no cost for students, partners cover tuition,” he said.
The Leadership for Africa offers a scholarship programme to complete a Masters degree in Germany, in all fields of study except for medicine, dentistry, law, arts and architecture.
About 50 scholarships are issued yearly.
Another Kenyan-German Postgraduate Training Programme offers 30 scholarships annually, open to all fields and topics.
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 programme aims to achieve capacity building at universities in Kenya.
From the first intake in 2011 until today, 139 scholarships have been awarded, thereof 71 doctoral candidates have completed their PhDs.
Established in the 1960s, DAAD promotes the creation of high-quality and permanently self-sufficient higher education structures in developing countries.
It contributes to academic collaboration within the region and offers individual scholarships for postgraduate students (Master and PhD levels).
DAAD is the world’s largest funding organisation for international exchange.
Germany has internationally-accredited universities and technical colleges whose doors are open to African students.
There are 400 state-recognised institutions of higher education offering more than 20,000 different study programmes.
It offers more than 2,000 international programmes; 85 power cent of these programmes are taught in English.
There are currently about 2.8 million students in Germany, among them about 13 per cent international students.
Of the foreign students, the rest of Europe provides the bulk with 43.7 per cent, Asia with 37.6, Africa 9.7, the Americas 8.6 and the rest of the world with 0.4.
The MKU council chairman David Serem said the university would continue to fully support all activities that promote peace and education in the country, regionally and globally.
“We are committed to fully supporting all activities geared toward promoting peace and especially those involving youth. This is why most of our programmes are self-job creating oriented, ” the chairman said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris