Prof Stephen Gitahi Kiama, Vice Chancellor, University of Nairobi (UoN)
A section of students of the University of Nairobi have written to Vice Chancellor Prof Stephen Kiama to help them solve some of the long-running issues bedevilling module 2 courses (Parallel).
Despite promptly paying their school fees, the students allege that the services rendered are below par.
"Lecturers not teaching, missing marks. It appears to us that there is a deliberate attempt to frustrate learning of evening students and generally do away with faculty of arts courses (module 2, 3 evening) as well as the satellite campuses of Mombasa and Kisumu," the letter stated in parts.
Universities in Kenya are struggling with huge wage bill and loans that threaten to shut some down, yet UoN lecturers are joking with students’ money.
As per the reports, Universities owe statutory bodies over Sh61 billion (PAYE, Pension etc).
The government has failed to remit over Sh165 billion to the universities.
The situation is dire; Egerton and Moi Universities are in deep financial woes with no light at the end of the tunnel.
UoN might look okay but the situation is almost the same and might get worse if more students fail to register in the Module 2 programme.
Bellow is the letter the class representatives wrote to VC Kiama
RE: ACADEMIC INJUSTICES AGAINST FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES EVENING STUDENTS The above subject matter refers. We are deeply concerned and disappointed with the way the faculty of arts and social sciences is treating Module 2 Nairobi evening students, Module 3 students, Mombasa campus students and Kisumu campus students. Despite several previous meetings and attempts to resolve these issues with the offices of the dean, faculty of arts chairmen, departments of history and political science the associate deans, Mombasa, and Kisumu campuses we have failed to get assistance. It appears to us that there is a deliberate attempt to frustrate learning of evening students and generally do away with faculty of arts courses (module 2, 3 evening) as well as the satellite campuses of Mombasa and Kisumu. These transgressions are predominantly evident in the following departments. Political science and public administration Forcing evening students to join day classes this is interfering with their jobs and daily activities which is the major source of their school fees. Untimely release of the evening teaching timetable and allocations of units in a timelybasisand hiding behind quorum to deny students learning Forcing students to register for units they are not privy to Failure to post marks on the students’ portal on time Failure to take measures in improving their presence in Mombasa and Kisumu campus A few lecturers and extremely rude and derogatory to students and we shall mention names the day we shall meet with you History and archaeology Missing marks Lecturers not teaching evening students forcing evening students and forcing them to integrate with day classes Mombasa and Kisumu campuses Faculty of arts and social sciences in these two campuses is severely neglected There are no linkages between dean faculty of arts and associate deans of these two campuses There are no concerted efforts in sustaining and growing the faculty in these two campuses Taken back and forth from Mombasa to Nairobi and back whereas we are using Nairobi timetable to register for unit therefore some units do not appear on the Mombasa evening portal Department of sociology A few lecturers and extremely rude and derogatory to students and we shall mention names the day we shall meet with you Missing marks We are aware that the university is in financial problem and austerity measures are being undertaken but it’s quite illogical in our view for this austerity measures to compromise the quality of learning, to discriminate evening student against their day counterparts, to threaten peoples’ jobs and their source of livelihoods in these hard economic times. We wish to bring it to your attention that forcing evening students to join day classes is an abuse of the students’ rights, it contravenes the agreement which students had with the university at the point of admission, and it amounts to an act of impunity. We know you may not be aware of what happens in this faculty and departments mentioned but we challenge you to give you attention to these faculties and the mentioned departments. This is therefore to request for your intervention in resolving this matter in the best interest of your students. We look forward to having an online meeting with you specifically to discuss the issues raised. Yours sincerely, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences students Module 2 Nairobi evening students, Module 3 students, Mombasa campus students, Kisumu campus students, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. These issues and the continued deterioration of services at the great UoN can make the erstwhile VC the late Prof George Magoha turn in his grave.