On Monday, February 24, 2020, Strathmore University and Sciences Po, signed an agreement on double degree programmes in humanities and social sciences. This followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on March 14, 2019, in the presence of Cabinet Secretary for Education, Amb. (Dr.) Amina Mohamed and Mrs. Frederic Vidal, Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation of the French Republic.
Existing SU-Sciences Po partnership
Building on the existing partnership between Strathmore and Sciences Po, the five years Bachelor/Masters Programme will allow undergraduate students enrolled at Strathmore to obtain a Bachelor’s degree from Strathmore and a Master’s degree from Sciences Po in a minimum of five years, with each institution meeting its regulatory requirements.
“This is a great step to a new beginning. Such a partnership is important in creating relationship between Africa and Europe. I look forward to attracting more students from African students to PSIA the biggest school of International Affairs studies in the world,” said Enrico Letta, Dean, Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), and former Prime Minister of Italy. This year, PSIA will be celebrating its 10th anniversary, and the Dean of PSIA has been on a tour around the world, with Nairobi as one of the cities in his itinerary.
Strathmore will pre-select the applicants for potential admission to the double degree programme based on their academic performance and motivation to study at Sciences Po. Selected students will spend their first three years at Strathmore taking Bachelor-level courses and the following two years at Sciences Po taking Master-level courses.
“The students will be dual citizens of Sciences Po institutions and Strathmore University. We are delighted and honoured to have this partnership. Kenya is an important country for Sciences Po and the double degree is the deepest form of cooperation that we can have between the universities,” Vanessa Scherrer, Vice President of International Affairs, Sciences Po.
Prestige of double degrees
The prestige of these degrees, together with the experience of student life in two different countries, are advantages greatly prized by potential employers today. Students will graduate from both institutions, gain twice as many professional networks, providing access to prominent markets in the world and a competitive edge in today’s modern, international professional work spaces. The degrees will also enhance and strengthen French – Kenyan university partnerships.
“The dual degree is the capstone of our partnerships. We currently have students of our Public Policy programme and others from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences visiting at Sciences Po. We look forward to more collaboration through avenues such as research,” Dr. Vincent Ogutu, Vice Chancellor Designate, Strathmore University.
The double degree programme will be open to three different Strathmore undergraduate programmes from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Strathmore University Business School, and to 16 Sciences Po graduate programmes from the School of Management and Innovation, the School of Public Affairs and the School of International Affairs.
Others present at the occasion were: Amb. Mrs Aline Kuster-Menager, Ambassador, France in Kenya; Amb. Alberto Pieri, Italian Ambassador, and Amb. Simon Mordue, European Union Ambassador. Enrico Letta later gave a public lecture on EU-Africa Relations and perspectives on the changing dynamics of diplomacy in the current era vis-à-vis a decade ago.
This article was written by Wambui Gachari.
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