Mount Kenya University Medical Students to benefit from KUTRRH partnership » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 23 – Mount Kenya University medical students will now access training facilities at the Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH) following the signing of a partnership between the two institutions.
In the collaboration signed by the Vice-Chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi and KUTRRH Chief Executive Ahmed Dagane at least 42 MKU medical sciences students have already been placed for clinical attachments.
Speaking during the singing of the memorandum of understanding, Prof Jaganyi said the collaboration was an indicator that local institutions can work together to achieve their goals.
“We usually make mistakes by traveling to foreign countries to look for collaboration, yet the best collaborator is just next door,” said the VC who was accompanied by Prof Peter Wanderi in charge of Training and Linkages.
Prof Jaganyi added that the University has already been collaborating with the referral hospital in cancer research and other medical fields.
“Let’s get the best out of this partnership because we believe KUTRRH has cutting edge facilities,” he said.
Dagane said some of the key areas earmarked for strengthening through the MoU are training, capacity building and internships for health workers and students in both institutions.
“Other key areas of partnership include access to specialized care at KUTRRH for MKU staff, collaboration in research and innovation promotion of engagement for sustainable development goals among others,” said the CEO. The pact which is renewable after every three years takes effect immediately
In a different arrangement, Kenya’s creative economy has received a major boost after the university opened a talent academy much to the relief of the many talented students in film, music and drama.
Speaking during the launch, Prof Jaganyi told students talented in arts to take advantage of the academy to beat joblessness which he attributed to skill mismatch and lack of innovation and creativity.
The Kenya Film Classification Board acting CEO Pascal Opiyo, while launching the academy said the initiative will help address skill mismatch that has been a hindrance for young people pursuing creative economy careers.
In a speech read on his behalf by Nelly Muluka, the board’s Corporate Communication Manager, Opiyo said the objectives of the Talent Academy resonate with the government’s Bottom up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and the Talanta Hela Initiative.
She said that the country’s 2019 Economic Survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that the Kenyan film and broadcast industry directly employed 129,824 people in 2019, or about 4.5 percent of the country’s total employed workforce. In the same period, it is estimated that the Kenyan film and audiovisual sectors contributed Sh15 billion to the country’s GDP.
A report published by PWC Africa titled: Africa and Entertainment Outlook 2023-2026, projects that Kenya’s broadcast and entertainment industry will improve in the next three years with an estimated monetary value of 900 million USD by 2026.
“It is in the above context that the Government is convinced that the Creative Economy has the potential to transform Kenya’s fortunes and improve the livelihoods of our youth through job creation and income generation,” she said.
Muluka however called on content creators and local broadcasters to take advantage of the expanded airwaves to produce more local content and ensure that the same is examined by the KFCB for age appropriateness.
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