Many of us Kenyans received news that public universities would have a double intake this year.
Few of you might also have the word Kenyatta University is already under way in its execution.
However, I view this a classic case of putting the cart before the horse hence minimising chances of the noble idea seeing the light of day.
I wonder whether relevant stakeholders were involved in gauging the viability of this programme or it was simply an overnight decision by a caucus of myopic individuals out to score political mileage.
Having visited most public universities, I should say none of them is ready for the much-publicised programme. In the recent past, universities have witnessed rapid student surges without a corresponding match in the available academic facilities. Accommodation facilities are limited and pathetic as refurbishment has been apparently considered a luxury.
First of all, being a student in a School of Engineering, I do confess almost two thirds of the Engineering courses being offered in universities are unregistered with the Engineering Registration Board.
They fall short of the threshold requirements that range from lecturer-student ratio to enough infrastructure for training.
Unfit professionals
Worse still, some of the lecturers are, themselves, unregistered with ERB hence unfit to train future engineers.
The Government seems unable to arrest this situation. This applies to almost all departments. It translates to incompetent engineers, doctors, architects, teachers, and anthroplogists.
It is high time the Government rose to the occasion and concentrated on infrastructure installation prior to implementing the programme to avoid jeopardising abilities of our graduates. We cannot have professionalism on the cross at the expense of myopic targets on the numbers.
The noble idea should be shelved because it is pre-mature and ill-timed.
{John Muteti Mutua, Matuu}
The plan to implement double intake programme in our universities is good but premature. If implemented right away, the programme is likely to compromise the quality of education.
As it stands now, our universities are going to absorb 8,000 plus students above the regular admission of 24,000 – within a year. The institutions are understaffed and with facilities that cannot match student population.
Learning facilities and bed capacity are way below the recommended. By increasing the intake, the situation is likely to worsen.
A lot needs to be done for university education before it absorbs more students. Otherwise, I still see patients dying in theatre rooms due to negligence, buildings collapsing due to poor workmanship, and bad governance due to hurriedly-baked minds.
{Nyoiro Caleb Odiwuor, Maseno}
A government that expects its citizenry to attain high standards of education must invest in the teaching staff and infrastructure that form the core for intellectual fulfillment.
However, it is worrying how universities are rushing to double intake in sheer ignorance of this factor.
Nothing is going to be achieved when we have a surging number of intellectually-thirsty people while the custodians of knowledge and facilities are inadequate.
{Joab Apollo, Eldoret}
