The ongoing lecturers strike in Kenya, which has disrupted learning and led to closure of several universities, point to a bigger crisis in the higher education sector in the East African country.

Three universities, Egerton, Moi and Masinde Muliro, have been shut down due to paralysis occasioned by the industrial action that enters its seventh day on Monday.

In the other four universities, students are on their own with the administration, in some, coming up with measures to ensure they do their examinations to complete the semester.

And as the crisis bites, educationists are urging the government to seize the opportunity and solve problems bedevilling universities, both private and public, which run beyond salary disputes.

Of great concern is over-enrolment, which has led to congestion in most varsities and an aggressive expansion program, which has seen the elevation of several middle-level colleges into university constituent colleges.

The two factors, although they have enhanced access to university education, have led to massive shortage of lecturers.

In a 2010 survey, Kenya's Commission for Higher Education (CHE) noted that there is an acute shortage of lecturers in universities, in particular, professors. The body said Kenya had a paltry 352 professors.

CHE noted that only a handful of the dons were teaching at universities, with the majority seeking greener pastures in the government as technocrats and in the private sector.

The shortage of staff in the universities has led to overworking of lecturers. Most of them end up working on weekends, evenings and university vacations. They barely have anytime for research.

In some faculties such as education, science and arts, there are as many as 2,500 students during lectures.

"Most times during education lectures, we stand on the verandah listening to the lecturer through the public address system. You can barely see inside the lecture halls because the rooms are full, " said Christine Nekesa on Monday, a Bachelor of Education student at Kenyatta University in the capital.

She noted that since the term began, they have done two continuous assessment tests but they have not gotten their scripts back.

"We are about 2,000 students in the history of education class. It is practically impossible for the lecturer to mark all the scripts and return them. This I believe it applies also to exam papers. Most students end up getting marks they do not deserve," she said.

To address staff shortage, most universities have employed part- time lecturers most of whom have masters degree or have just completed their undergraduate.

The lecturers make more than half the staff in most universities, both public and private. They have no time to research nor publish because of the huge number of students they handle and they also teach in more than one institution.

The rise in the number of students has resulted from improved access to primary and secondary education, which the government is funding.

Besides overcrowding and inadequate lecturers, the increase in demand for higher education has also led to mushrooming of universities.

The last seven years has seen the number of private universities rise from 17 to 30 and public from five to seven.

But this has come with downsides. The quality of learning has deteriorated, with many universities, according to CHE offering courses that are not accredited.

In its 2010 report, the commission noted thousands of students are enrolled in courses that have not been accredited and will, therefore, not be recognized as having proper qualification.

"We are investigating cases where some universities are starting programs first, then filing applications with the commission for accreditation, which is wrong,"said Professor Everett Standa, CHE director.

The failure to offer accredited courses has put on collision many universities with professional bodies, which have refused to recognize graduates putting careers on the line.

The Engineers Registration Board, for instance, has declined to recognize graduates from Egerton, Masinde Muliro and Kenyatta, leading public universities.

This is the fate that has befallen law, survey, medicine, veterinary and pharmacy graduates who have been rejected by respective professional bodies.

Professor Margaret Kamar, Kenya's Minister for Higher Education decried falling standards of university education in the country. She observed that most universities have failed to deliver quality education as they promised when they were being given charters.

However, all is not lost as Kenya experiences challenges in its university education. To improve university education, Kenya's government increased its funding to public universities. It rose from 259 million U.S. dollars to 287 million dollars in this financial year.

Kenya has also committed 595 million dollars for the setting up of the National Open University, a postgraduate training and research institution that will enable more students to pursue their degrees through online learning thus reduce congestion in universities.