Varsity students going through hell, commission says

CUE chairperson Chacha Nyaigotti Chacha

The Government has admitted that parallel programmes have diluted the quality of education in universities and turned students into "prisoners".

Commission for University Education (CUE) noted Wednesday that although universities had continued to enrol huge numbers of students, there were no corresponding investments in resources to accommodate the big numbers.

The revelation puts to question the fate of the famous Module II programme, a major cash cow for public universities.

In a candid discussion on the state of higher education, CUE chairperson Chacha Nyaigotti Chacha said Kenyan universities had turned students into prisoners who are hardly happy in the institutions.

He said university students were increasingly becoming prisoners of harsh learning environments, warning that this must now form the core part of the discussion on the quality education offered.

"Students are living through hell. From high school cubicles where they probably were four, they are now 16  in one," said Prof Chacha.

He said the harsh life spilled over to life after college. "And when they graduate, they feel like prisoners out of prisons. How long does it take to rehabilitate a prisoner? Let us discuss students' life in university education. It's time we talk about it," he said.

He added: "If you have programmes and you intend to admit students, you must invest. If you are offering biochemistry, you must invest in serious laboratories, not like high school ones."

He said increasing access did not mean a mere presence of a university.

"It is about being able to produce students who can pass examinations and gain admission," said Chacha during an international education forum on the State of Education in Africa organised by Africa–America Institute.

He said the universities had failed to inspire learning by crowding accommodation facilities.

"It's no longer fun to be a student. We must now have a candid discussion on how to return university life among students. The universities must be places of joy as students pursue courses of their dreams, not a burden of congestion and stressful lives," said Chacha.

"Today hostels are a cocktail of all sorts of smells. Some cook different types of foods. Walking in the corridors of hostels you are hit with the smell of omena, fried eggs, burning githeri and all manner of things. It is not a joyous place.