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Working paper for a consultative meeting on Higher Education for Kenyan Muslims held in Nairobi
1.0 Refining the vision of higher education by 2030: It is envisioned that with a good strategy the Muslim numerical disadvantage in higher education compared to other communities can be reduced greatly. This will be achieved by having a higher proportion of Muslims registering for masters and doctoral degrees so that they can join the faculties of the emerging Muslim-based universities that in turn will enable more Muslims to acquire higher education. It is estimated that 10,000 university places (public and private institutions – local and overseas) should be available for every 1.0 million Muslims in order realize the vision. Self reliance and mobilization of local resources will be the cornerstone of realizing the vision.
2.0 Islamic Epistemology, a motivating factor in higher educational achievement: It is thought that introducing input of Islamic values in the educational curricula and all disciplines of knowledge will act as a major motivating factor for higher achievement in higher education because both teachers and students will realize that education is an obligatory religious duty in which they must excel. The Islamic input in the educational process will also solve the persisting issue of dichotomy in knowledge in which religious sciences are taught separately from other sciences with no attempt to relate one to the other
3.0 Curricula for Muslim universities: Muslim universities should position themselves to excel in all branches on knowledge in addition to the added value of the Islamic input in each discipline. Their curricula and teaching material should therefore be prepared or reformed to ensure this. They can benefit from the experiences of Muslim Universities in South and South East Asia in this area
4.0 Establishing and financing University education: University education is very expensive; innovative approaches will therefore be needed to ensure that Muslim students have access to higher education. Besides attending national universities and universities in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, Muslims need to set up an adequate number of local universities that could start as affiliates of more developed local and overseas universities and later develop into full-fledged independent institutions. They should also develop mutual self-help networks. In general infrastructural developments should be financed by donations (the internal ones being more important) but running costs should be recoverable from the low tuitions that will be charged a challenge that requires very efficient financial management
5.0 Academic human resource development for Muslim Universities: The higher education objectives for Muslims mentioned above cannot be achieved without adequate well trained academic staff. The start should be with sending future lecturers to acquire masters and doctoral degrees in Asian countries where Muslim Universities have succeeded to various extents in integrating Islamic values in university education as well as surviving financially.