Closing down public varsities best option as strikes persist

UASU chairman Muga Olale and Secretary General Constatine Wasonga during a protest for better pay in Nairobi last month. [File, Standard]

More than 40 days after it began, the lecturers’ strike is showing no sign of petering out. The matter is being treated with remarkable nonchalance.

The disruptions to higher education will take years to recover. An online campaign led by public universities students under the hashtag #EndLecturersStrike has ably captured their frustrations. A degree that would ordinarily finalise in about four years is now taking seven.