University of Eastern Africa, Baraton

University of Eastern Africa, Baraton
Motto Mental, Physical, Spiritual
Established 1980
Type Private
Academic staff
 50
Location Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya
0°15′20″N 35°04′57″E / 0.255459°N 35.082561°ECoordinates: 0°15′20″N 35°04′57″E / 0.255459°N 35.082561°E
Campus 339 acres (1.37 km2)
Colors Blue and gold
Website www.ueab.ac.ke

The University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (UEAB) is a private coeducational Seventh-day Adventist university located about 50 km from Eldoret Kenya. It offers various degrees in a number of graduate and undergraduate programs in the fields of Business, the Humanities, Agriculture, Technology, Health Sciences and Education. Baraton University, as it is popularly known, is run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and is part of its system of higher education. It is fully accredited by the Commission for Higher Education, Kenya Government, and was the first private University to receive a Charter granted by the republic of Kenya on March 28, 1991. The University is also a member of the Inter-University Council for East Africa, The Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the Association of African Universities.

It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world's second largest Christian school system.[1][2][3] [4]

The mission of UEAB is the provision and advancement of a holistic Christian quality education for the youth with the aim of equipping them with necessary skills for service for God and humanity.[5]

History

The beginning of the Seventh-day Adventist education in this part of Africa dates back to the establishment of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the region. The earliest church was established in Tanzania in 1903, followed by church work around Lake Victoria, especially with the 1906 establishment of a mission at the Homa-Bay County's Gendia, the current location of the Kendu Adventist Hospital, Gendia High School and the Africa Hearald and Publishing House. In 1928 what is now known as Kamagambo Adventist College was established in Rongo Town, Migori County.

Many primary and secondary school have since been established. Some of these have been offering post secondary education, but none of them has offered a full bachelor's degree program. For this reason, students desiring that level of education in an Adventist institution before 1980 had to go outside Eastern Africa. During the 1970s, the Middle East University in Beirut Lebanon served many such students. Thus there was a great need for a full-fledged university in Eastern Africa.

In October 1978, the Board of the Afro-Mideast Division of Seventh-day Adventists took an action to establish such a university in Kenya on December 21, 1978. The Kenya Government allotted the Baraton Animal Husbandry Research Station of 339 acres (1.37 km²) in Nandi District to the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of founding what is now known as the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. Classes began in January 1980 in the temporary farm structures. Some of these structures have since been replaced with new and modern buildings. According to Okoth-Yogo,[6] there are two unique learning experiences at the EUAB that you will hardly get in any other Kenyan University. The first one is the insistence on reaffirming interdisciplinary learning by prescribing an admixture of liberal arts, natural sciences and basic survival skills such as information technology, communications and the mathematics, music, health principles, physical education... with whatever one’s major area of study is. He says that “as an undergraduate student who had gone through the Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education (KACE) and specialized in History, Literature and Geography, I was compelled to go through biology, chemistry and mathematics classes, even as I pursued my degree in History…When I eventually studied law, it was very easy for me to work on issues such as bio-prospecting, environmental assessments, natural products industrialization, technology transfer, intellectual property rights, easily veering from the humanities and social sciences into the world of science and technology.” The second uniqueness is the university's insistence on work based education. Most UEAB graduates shall have had lots of work experience by the time they graduate with a first degree, because this is part of the curriculum. In such work programs work ethics is greatly emphasized.

Purpose

The University is an integral part of society. It has the special function of lifting the vision of society by challenging and motivating its students to develop to the highest possible goals. This is done through programmes geared to serve the needs of the community and the general public.

Here, instructors and students engage in free inquiry. An important facet of this co-operative effort is the validation of knowledge. The University of Eastern Africa, Baraton is designated to serve the church by offering courses that are relevant to the training of its workers, including leaders and administrators.

The university also hosts a local research centre of the Ellen G. White Estate. UEAB Objectives. Various faculty and students are engaged in ground breaking research in various areas, especially biological science, agriculture, environmental science and technology. Great scholars, notably Prof. Ron Mackenzie, a renowned educationist, Prof. Mutuku Mutinga, a world renowned entomologist, among others, have served the University as vice chancellors. Prof Kabaijja, a member of the cabinet in Rwandise Government also served the university at one time as an animal science researcher with great strides in dairy cattle breeding.

Schools

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/1115/For-real-education-reform-take-a-cue-from-the-Adventists"the second largest Christian school system in the world has been steadily outperforming the national average – across all demographics."
  2. ↑ http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/seventh_day_adventist.htm
  3. ↑ "Department of Education, Seventh-day Adventist Church". Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  4. ↑ Rogers, Wendi; Kellner, Mark A. (April 1, 2003). "World Church: A Closer Look at Higher Education". Adventist News Network. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  5. ↑ "UEAB - About UEAB". ueab.ac.ke. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  6. ↑ Okoth-Yogo, Kiboyye & Antony Sisa Mbayaki (2007). Crafting the best Practices for Higher Education in Kenya and Intellectual Asset Management. Moi University Graduate Students Association (MUGSA)Lecture, 2nd December, Margaret Thatcher Library.
  7. ↑ "UEAB - School of Business". ueab.ac.ke. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  8. ↑ "UEAB - School of Humanities and Social Sciences". ueab.ac.ke. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  9. ↑ "UEAB - School of Health Sciences". ueab.ac.ke. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  10. ↑ "UEAB - School of Science and Technology". ueab.ac.ke. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  11. ↑ "UEAB - School of Education". ueab.ac.ke. Retrieved 2011-05-05.