• University of Nairobi, Daystar University and Multimedia University top the list of the best media colleges in Kenya.
• The three have been joined by a number of other excellent media schools.
• They include Technical University of Kenya, the former Kenya Polytechnic, and Moi University’s Department of Linguistic Media and Commission.

In media interviews after excelling in both the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations results, many of the top candidates had a pretty good idea of what careers they hope to pursue in the future.

The bright young girls and boys said they hoped to become neuro-surgeons, engineers, architects, accountants or lawyers in future. Only a few of them mentioned journalism or the media, which only a few years ago, were the most glamorous courses that many youth wished to pursue for the celebrity status.

During the days of the single State-owned broadcaster, Voice of Kenya that later became the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, young people attracted to careers in radio and television went to the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), based at Nairobi South ‘B’.

The KIMC then offered certificate and diploma courses.

The print journalists were trained mainly at the School of Journalism (SoJ) of the University of Nairobi.

From the 1970s right into the 1980s and 1990s, the SoJ offered a one-year diploma course in mass communication. It also trained broadcast journalists, who did their practicals either at KBC or the KIMC.

Today, there are many institutions training media practitioners. Besides the University of Nairobi, Daystar University and Multimedia University, formerly the Posts and Telecommunications College at Mbagathi, Nairobi, offer media training.

The three have been joined by a number of other excellent media schools. They include Technical University of Kenya, the former Kenya Polytechnic, and Moi University’s Department of Linguistic Media and Commission.

The latest entrant is the privately owned Aga Khan University School of Media and Communications, which is part of the Aga Khan Foundation that offers development support and training to other sectors as well.

However, Moi University has for many years distinguished itself as the place to go for information science, which paved the way for some of the trainees to join the media.

In recent years, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) has developed its own media training wing. Mt Kenya University, Riara University, Nairobi, Zetech College Media School, East Africa School of Journalism and Nairobi Aviation College have also earned their slots in the list of best media colleges in Kenya.

The problem with some of the small journalism colleges in Kenya is that their certificates will not guarantee the students chances of getting hired by the big media houses.

RELATED: Hilary Ng’weno, the nuclear physicist who became a media entrepreneur

The Nation Media Group, the Standard Media Group, Royal Media Services, and Radio Africa Group have a bias for the major universities offering journalism courses.

The University of Nairobi (UoN) is a very good place for students to pursue journalism and media-related careers in Kenya. It is among the most highly recognised institutions in Africa, offering the best education up to the doctorate level.

The SoJ was opened as a Unesco regional project financed largely by Denmark, Norway, and Austria to cater for students from Eastern and Central Africa.

Until 1979, the School offered a two-year undergraduate programme leading to a Diploma in Journalism. From 1980 it offered a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication, and later, a master’s degree in Communication Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.

The Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) was established in 1961 as the Voice of Kenya Training School.

It trained electronic engineering and technicians for the then government-owned Kenya Broadcasting Service (KBS), becoming the Voice of Kenya (VoK) and later, as the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).

Today, it offers some higher courses in collaboration with the University of Nairobi.

RELATED: Wit, class and sartorial elegance of one of Kenya’s finest journalists

Daystar University is one of the best institutions in the country that produce highly skilled and qualified professionals in the media industry.

It has two campuses, Athi River and Nairobi. It has several well-equipped radio and TV studios and operates a radio station, Shine FM.

Multimedia University of Kenya is highly recommended for broadcast journalism and other media-related courses, having been upgraded from the old Posts and Telecommunications College at Mbagathi.

The institution runs its own radio station serving Rongai, Bomas, Kiserian and neighbouring locations on Nairobi’s southern outskirts.

The new Riara University is developing into potentially one of the best media university in Kenya.

The well-established institution offers high standards of education in communication-related fields.

The Technical University of Kenya (TUK) is among the most reliable colleges in Kenya where students can pursue media courses.