Gujarat University has Thursday held a campaign in Nairobi to promote education programmes in India.
The target was to get more than 1000 students willing to study in 16 universities in India that offer undergraduate and post graduate studies.
Speaking during the ‘Study in Gujarat’ education fair at a Nairobi hotel, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said India has been assisting Kenya in various sectors for many years.
In a speech read on his behalf by Director University Education Darius Ogutu, the CS noted that in the education sector, the Indian government provides scholarship to more than four hundred Kenyans to study in their universities every year.
“A lot of Kenyans looks for higher education in India. Kenya and India have remained good partners and maintained their relationship. Likewise, citizens of both countries have engaged in various partnerships,” he said
Magoha gave an example of how India has come through for Kenya in the realisation of the big four agenda citing RIVATEX in Eldoret which was modernized with Indian credit of USD 30 million.
The CS said Kenyans considered Indians as part of the citizens and that they are the forty fourth tribe of the country.
The Indian High Commissioner to Kenya Rahul Chhabra urged the youth to take advantage of the fair and gain more in terms of choices when picking an institution of higher learning.
He noted that currently, the Indian government is working with the University of Nairobi and has invested in a library that has been put up through a grant of USD1 million by Indian government.
According to the Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Education in India Vibharari Dave, India has initiated the study in Gujarat in education sector by providing affordable education to students.
“Gujarat is one of the fastest growing progressive State in India and gives high values education and the best service to their students,” she added
Vice chancellor of the university of Nairobi (UON) Prof. Steven Kiama said that he was impressed by what universities in Gujarat were doing and looked forward as UON to benefit, learn more and exchange ideas in order to provide the best for the students and community in India and Kenya.
The fair showcased the higher learning opportunities in Gujarat in order to educate the youth about various courses in their institutes in addition to providing details of various scholarships for students.
By Sheila Jerono and Wangari Ndirangu
