Since the turn of the century, access to University education across the country has continued to steadily improve although a lot still needs to be done.
The period has seen institutions of higher education experience unprecedented growth. It is duringthis time that Zetech College also morphed from an ICT training center to a full-fledged University.
As the institution’s founder Ken Mbiuki can, however, attest, the rise of the academic giant since its inception in 1999 has not been an easy ride.
His interest in IT, however, grew as the worldwide technological bubble expanded forcing him to find a bigger space to accommodate many students.
In a past interview with Business Daily, Mbiuki noted that his success in training was boosted by the pressure he experienced from his fellow students who were yearning for the skills in a world devoid of Twitter and Facebook.
“Initially I had two to three students but the number went up between the end of 1997 to 1999, growing between 200 to 300 students. The decision was inspired by the pressure from the students,” he stated at the time.
He moved to a bigger classroom but demand kept growing, which drove him to start an IT college. He would make as much as Ksh200,000 income at the time.
According to the institution’s history, the college was first christened Zenith Technologies but soon expanded to a college and combined its name from the two, Zenith and Technologies to form Zetech.
In the 17 years that followed, the institution embarked on an expansion drive that saw it finally receive its Letter of Interim Authority in 2014.
“Driven by a passion to meet the high demand for quality education, the institution embarked on a 15-year strategic blueprint manual that outlined the aspiration to attain University status.
“Thereafter, the institution broke ground and constructed a multi-million University Complex along Thika Road, launched by His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta. After successful inspection by the Commission of University Education, the institution attained a Letter of Authority to offer University programs, consequently giving rise to Zetech University in August 2014,” announces a statement on its website.
When he first branched out, the office rent was Ksh15,000 but he has since expanded to buy the institution’s headquarters along Thika Road.
“We diversified our programmes from Information Technology and computing packages to hospitality and business courses and eventually mass communication and community development to widen the scope of the programmes,” he noted.
Today, the University serves about 6,000 students in different campuses. It has more than 300 staff members.
