Conception

The Centre for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education was conceived at a conference held on the campus of the University of Venda, South Africa In January 2000; representatives of four African countries from East, South and West Africa were present. It was a response to a felt need for a mechanism that would link Christians in African higher education by something more than occasional conferences. It was an African initiative in response to an African need.

Birth

A constitution was prepared and 18 months later the first meeting of an Interim Council met in the university town of Potchefstroom South Africa. In the ensuing years there were many struggles as we endeavoured to establish a firm foundatiion and wide network.

The photos at top left and right show two members of the Council unable to attend: Bennie van der Walt due to ill health and Isaac Mutua due to financial constraints.

The first big step forward

Five years later, in 2005, CPCHEA hosted another conference at the Nairobi Graduate School of Theology (NEGST). This was organised, against the odds, by Rev. Isaac Njaramba Mutua and his wife, Beth Wangari. wigeDelegates from more than 13 African countries attended. The theme of this conference, Making a difference in Today’s Africa fitted very well with the earlier conference theme. This conference ignited significant developments, the greatest one being the establishment of CPCHEA’s secretariat. with Rev. Mutua appointed Director and Chair of the Council with the Secretariat based in Kitale, Kenya.

The Nairobi conference was followed by IAPCHE’s (International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education) Global conference in Nicaragua in 2006, whose theme was, Christian Higher Education in Global Context: Implications for Curriculum, Administration and Pedagogy: By this time CPCHEA had been officially recognised as IAPCHE’s African regional council.

As it is today

With dlligent, hard work and the development of a fruitful collaborative realationship with the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education, CPCHEA has come of age. It is still a major challenge working in the context the world's poorest continent, but there is now no doubt that we are here to stay.

CONTACT

The Executive Director may be contacted by:

Email:cpchea_admin@cpchea.org

Tel. No. 254-054-31816 or

Mobile No. 254-723-887-221