University hold graduation for three consecutive days

Dedan Kimathi University holds three separate graduations over a period of three days to personalise the ceremony. [Lydiah Nyawira/Standard]

Nyeri based Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (Dekut) has broken the tradition by holding its annual graduation in three consecutive days.

This year's event was divided into three different ceremonies that spread through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week. Up to 1,446 graduands benefited.

Dekut Public Relations Officer Faith Mutheu said the institution chose to break down the graduation ceremonies into smaller events of about 450 to give students a "personalised" feeling of their accomplishments.

“Traditional graduation fetes are focused on the chief guest, but we sought to give graduands a personal experience where they have their names honourably called" she explained. "They can even greet the chancellor and take a photo with him.”

The institution’s social media pages, said the university was geared to meeting the changing needs of the graduands.

“Students expressed concern that ceremonies took too long, eating into their time for celebrations with their guardians and friends,” the post read.

Industry leaders

Before each ceremony there were rehearsals where the graduating students heard from industry leaders within their field of study on what to expect in the job market.

“Valedictorian speeches are read by representatives of the schools and institutes, as opposed to the previous trend where only one person spoke on behalf of all,” Ms Mutheu explained.

She further dispelled concerns that the ceremonies were held as a cost cutting measure for the institution, insisting that the focus was on satisfying the students.

“It was not about the money, in fact we spent a lot on human resource to ensure we held three equal and well organised graduation ceremonies for the sake of our students,” she said.

The institution observed that there were concerns that graduation ceremonies caused traffic congestion, which led to delays for the convoys of graduands and were a security threat.

“Consultations did occur and Dekut Students organisation was involved during the decision making process,” she noted.

Mutheu said the move was modelled from international trends and practices.