By James Ratemo
In the last three decades, the number of First Class degrees awarded by universities has increased steadily.
Then it was common for a faculty to fail to award even a single degree with First Class Honours but now a class can produce several.
On Friday, at the University of Nairobi graduation, 127 out of the 3,366 graduates were awarded First Class degrees in science-based courses.
The situation was similar, in July, at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) when Mr Githinji Arthur Waweru graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science, First Class Honours, along with five others in a class of 103.
Waweru is confident he deserved the honour. " Our scores are tallies of grades from courses taught by different lecturers. It is outrageous to suggest we did not genuinely earn our marks… We worked hard and excelled right from the first year," he says.
His classmates Azenga Munanne, Gachanja James, Karasha Jaqueline, Seela, Komen Stephen and Njoroge John who shared the honour echo his estimates.
Honours
During the same graduation, 10 students in a class of 78 were awarded First Class Honours Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science degrees. In Bachelor of Science in Horticulture, seven students in a class of 29 achieved the fete as did four students in a class of 16 in the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture programme. Seven out of 28 Bachelor of Science Electrical and Electronic Engineering graduates were awarded First Class Honours as did three out of 34 graduates in Civil Engineering. They were joined in the exclusive club by five Bachelor of Science in Computer Technology graduates out of a class of 52.
In the same month at Kenyatta University (KU), fewer students got First Class Honours degrees but the trend was maintained. For instance, two out of 11 Bachelor of Science, (Computer Science) graduates were awarded First Class Honours degrees. But at the School of Business, only two of 73 graduates managed to get the top honour. In Bachelor of Arts only one out of 87 Special Education graduates were awarded First Class Honours degrees with most other courses registering none.
Compromise
A lecturer at a public university says some students did not earn the awards but bought their way up. "The degrees are just papers…and the Senate approves the awards based on reports from departments…. Some departments are generous with First Class and Second Class honours to attract students," he says.
KU Vice Chancellor, Olive Mugenda, is categorical that increase in number of First Class honours degrees is not a ploy to attract more students. "It is unthinkable that students are attracted to a university because they anticipate to be awarded First Class Honours degrees.
The process of awarding marks is thorough. External examiners countercheck what internal examiners have done…it is impossible to compromise all examiners in all courses," she says. She attributes the rising number of First Class Honours degrees at KU to the increasing number of students. "In the early days when first classes were rare, students were few. Now, we have many students and the numberFirst Class Honours degrees awarded reflect this," she says Prof Mugenda.
