Assessing the Nature of Kenya’s Public Universities in Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4

The concept of education for Sustainable Development seeks to change education approach by incorporating values, principles and practices of Sustainable Development with a view of integrating all forms of learning and education. This thesis examines the nature of Kenya’s public university education in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4; Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The study had three objectives: to investigate the quality of Kenya’s public university education in relation to SDG 4, focusing on university funding, students enrollment, university regulatory framework, teaching facilities, teaching staff and expansion of public universities in Kenya: to assess the requirements of the attainment of sustainable development goal 4 with regard to the indicators of SDG 4 that relate to public universities and to examine the extent to which public university education in Kenya is aligned to the aspirations of Sustainable Development Goal 4. Functionalism and social constructivism theories have been used to discuss this thesis. This thesis found out that, the quality of education in the public institutions in Kenya is low due to lack of government funding, poor and unavailable learning facilities and inadequate staff. The study discovered that the government has made attempts in establishing programs like the National Education Sector Plan and Chandaria-Business Innovation and Incubation Centre in public universities, to aid in the achievement of goal 4. Attempts have been made to reduce the number of public universities for easier provision of quality education. Such efforts have failed as universities have been on the spotlight for failing to implement remedial measures recommended to them. The research concluded that public universities in Kenya are making progress towards attainment of goal 4 of the Sustainable Development.