Date: September 10, 2025
Venue: Virtual Meeting
Organizers: Moi University & JKUAT under AfroRehab2030 Project
On September 10, 2025, the Departments of Rehabilitation Science at Moi University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) convened a virtual workshop to review the proposed Master of Science (MSc) in Rehabilitation curriculum. The meeting further provided stakeholders with insights into the Afrorehab2030 project, a European Union-funded initiative structured around six work packages (WPs).
Stakeholder Participation
The session brought together representatives from:
- Ministry of Health, Kenya
- Kenya Society of Physiotherapists
- Physiotherapy Council of Kenya
- Circleg
- Kenya Occupational Therapists’ Association (KOTA)
- Faculty from Moi University and JKUAT
Moi University and JKUAT are among the six partners implementing the project.
Speaking during the meeting, Dr. Wallace Karuguti, Lead for Work Package Six (Communication and Dissemination), provided an overview of the Afrorehab2030 project. whose overarching goal is to establish a Master’s program in Rehabilitation to strengthen training and service delivery in the region.
The participants were briefed on the process behind the curriculum development, which was preceded by conducting a needs assessment, and will also ensure to do benchmarking, stakeholder engagement, refinement, and eventual piloting before commencement.
In this regard, Dr Karuguti, provided an overview of the needs assessment survey results which captured input from rehabilitation professionals, potential employers, service users, and other stakeholders in disability, education, social welfare, and related sectors.
Key challenges identified from the survey included the lack of advanced or specialized skills, largely due to limited opportunities for career progression and continuous professional development. Respondents highlighted critical gaps they hoped the curriculum would address, such as digital rehabilitation and diagnostic competencies.
The survey also revealed that most rehabilitation professionals (whose exact numbers remain unknown due to limited data) rarely venture into research or academia. The proposed MSc program aims to bridge this gap by equipping practitioners with the skills needed to advance knowledge, innovation, and practice in the field.
The session was also addressed by Dr. Naomi Kingau, the Principal Investigator of the project from Moi University, who explained that the mode of delivery for the MSc program would be online, onsite, and blended.
The teaching methodologies will be student-centred, community-based, collaborative, and experiential enabling students to apply theoretical knowledge in real-life clinical and community settings, thereby gaining hands-on practical skills and confidence in patient care. She also outlined the expected learning outcomes of the program.
As presented by Dr. King’au together with Dr. Mwangi Matheri the Principal Investigator from JKUAT, the Msc Program will have several exit specializations: Optometry, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Pathology, Audiology, Prosthetics & Orthotics.
The workshop further enabled participants to critique the program and share their perspectives, which will guide the project partners in refining the curriculum. Moi University and JKUAT are working together with Muhimbili University, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University (Tanzania), Arcada University (Finland) and Western University of Applied Sciences (Norway).
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