DOBA Faculty of Slovenia to invest in e-learning in Kenya

3 Nov 2014

Slovenia's largest private Business School, DOBA, is driving a public-private partnership program seeking to get employers in the four Kenyan cities to endorse e-learning and encourage employees to sign up and acquire new skills in an international learning environment.

The business school is launching a fully online English language Masters of International Business Management (MIBM) in Kenya and will spend slightly over $1m in the next five years in the East African country.

DOBA Faculty of Slovenia to invest in e-learning in Kenya

DOBA Faculty says it is already in talks with a number of private and public sector bodies including KEPSA for its support in the campaign which will be asking employing institutions in Kenya to give support to their employees. Primarily, the university has identified access to good internet and permission to take online classes in the office as crucial support roles for employers.

International level for higher productivity

Natasa Ritonija, the Head of International Centres at the university, said, "Growth in adoption level of e-learning will immensely benefit the economy. This model has especially been successful in enabling people study abroad without leaving their countries and will encourage working people to develop their skills to the international level for higher productivity.

"We know people are missing their evening classes while sitting in the traffic and want employers to support employees if they choose to study their Masters online from the office."

Under the program, DOBA is also planning to introduce partial and full scholarship programs for the English language Masters International Business Management program targeting working professionals which will be extended to also benefit the stay-at-home graduate mothers in Kenya.

Interest in online learning model

The number of Kenyans studying online is expected to skyrocket. Already, more than 30% of student in Europe are active in online study according to the Research firm Ambient Insight which also estimates that by 2015 over 25 million students will study online in the US.

Kenyans have shown a lot of interest in the fully online learning model, according to DOBA, with over 1,000 enquiries on their Masters Program made this year. Student completion rate at the university is at 82%. The university is in process with the Kenya commission for Higher Education for accreditation.

Entry of DOBA in the Kenya market now further propels the local education sector towards adoption of electronic learning in the delivery of higher education. Although none has yet to offer a fully online learning model or achieved continental accreditation for their online e-learning delivery systems, some universities in Kenya have also launched their e-learning programs.