In the presence of Dr. László Kövér, Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, and Dr. Zsolt Mészáros, Ambassador of Hungary to Kenya, Obuda University was the first Hungarian higher education institution to open a Technology and Knowledge Centre with the Kenyan BCK IT and the Hungarian ACPM IT Kft cyber defence consultancy companies, Prof. Levente Kovács Levente, Rector of the University said.
Our aim is to ensure that the knowledge acquired by Kenyan students is well appliead in the labour market as soon as possible, and to increase the number of students applying to Obuda University under the Stipendium Hungaricum programme,” said Rector Kovács at the opening ceremony. As he added, the students can work during their studies through hybrid and cooperative training or spend their internships at Kenyan and Hungarian companies cooperating with Obuda University.
As the President of the House of Representatives, Dr. László Kövér, put it, “we see the Republic of Kenya as a leading economic and political player in East Africa”. Prof. Dr. Levente Kovács emphasized to the Kenyan market and academic representatives present that in the long term and through close academic and corporate cooperation, we aim to become a dominant market player in Kenya and in the short term in the East African region.
Obuda University’s centuries-long history and present successes are based on close industrial cooperation, and this is the model we are applying here in Kenya when we launch the university’s first Tech & Knowledge HUB in cooperation with a Hungarian and a Kenyan company,” the Rector added. Over the past seven years, the university has gradually built up the capacity and content of the current office, and is now a recognised player in both the higher education and vocational training side of the Kenyan Ministry of Education, and we have been asked to advise on dual training to help make this type of training a reality in Kenya.
The main tasks of the Centre for Technology and Knowledge are to promote the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship program among prospective Kenyan students, increase student mobility, joint business development, launch short cycle training and encourage investment in innovation,” said Tamás Kersánszki, the university’s coordinator for East African development. The university is launching three short-cycle courses in hybrid format (Humanitarian response manager, Road networks and Computational Methods for Data Analysis) as a first step, followed by further courses in the coming months. The local office manager, Elizabeth Wangoi, will keep you up to date with the latest information.
Martin Andresen , Head of the European Union Delegation for Infrastructure Development, also congratulated on the opening of the office and suggested that the Obuda University, in cooperation with European universities in Kenya, should take the initiative to establish a similar European University Hub, following the example of Obuda University.
Kenya has one of the fastest growing economies in East and Central Africa and Nairobi is a major regional trading centre. Ten Kenyan students are currently studying at Obuda University, mostly under the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship programme. Five are studying mechatronics engineering, two electrical engineering, but some are studying environmental engineering, computer engineering and a Kenyan student is also studying for a master’s degree in business development.
Discussing the possibilities of cooperation in vocational training
Prof. Dr. Levente Kovács had a meeting with Dr. Esther Thaara Muoria, State Secretary for Vocational Education and Training at the Ministry of Education in Kenya.
A new development cycle for vocational education and training in Kenya started this year with the formation of the new government. Building on the presence of Obuda University in Kenya and its recognised achievements in the technical field, the Kenyan Ministry of Education’s State Secretariat for Vocational Education and Training would work with the university on welding, cyber defence, renewable energy, a training of trainers programme, peer learning activities and the introduction of dual training.
Joint training and research development
In Nyeri, the Rector of Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Prof. P. Ndirangu Kioni, and his senior colleagues received the Obuda University delegation on 6 March. During the meeting, the rectors of the two institutions agreed to cooperate in the newly established ÓE programmes, the MSc in Hospital Engineering and the PhD programme in Innovation Management. The education and research cooperation would cover the fields of artificial intelligence-driven food safety, precision agriculture and geoinformatics, smart industry, architecture and precision engineering through related development projects to be launched with European funding.
Obuda University intends to be an active player in training specialists for the regional oncology centre to be built in Nyeri with the support of the Hungarian government,” said the rector.
