Assessing East Africa Leading Universities Adherence to Regional and Global Computer Science Curriculum Guidelines

Established universities often lead regional efforts in curriculum innovation and the adoption of emerging academic standards. In East Africa, this trend is exemplified by Makerere University—the region’s oldest—alongside the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, and the University of Dar es Salaam. This paper examines how the undergraduate computer science programs at these institutions align with the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) benchmarks and how they compare with the recently introduced global standards outlined in CS2023. The findings reveal strong convergence between the current Computer Science (CS) programs and CS2023, notable divergence between CS2023 and the IUCEA benchmarks, and statistically significant differences across several institutional programs. The paper demonstrates how CS programs can be systematically mapped to CS2023 standards and how regional coordination can be achieved.