Five devious ways campus students use to con their parents

After spending the two coins given by the government, parents are the next saving grace for a student’s pockets.

Many times, this money does not come easy, which is why most resort to creative ways to fish out that money

1. Imaginary trips

With minimal graphic skills, one can get money with a simple poster stating that there’s a compulsory class trip. It is a walk in the park if you insist on the education.

Most times, it is a trip to a sleepy uninteresting place that will most definitely not warrant questions or requests for photos of the place. It is even easier when you throw in lines like: “Ni Mimi pekee sijalipa.”

2. Funerals

Remember killing people in primary school compositions? Well, that was simply preparation for the cold cruel world where bills must be paid by all means. It is common to get messages asking the parent to help contribute to a non-existent friend or classmate’s funeral. 

3. Exam cards and examination fees

This is mostly in the form of the classic distress call.

It is a cry for help at the end of the semester. It is almost genius, because who would not want their child sitting for an exam? Definitely not the parent who goes around the village singing songs about their child, the only one to have set foot in the university.

4. Sickness

Nothing clutches at the strings of a parent’s heart like knowing their child is sick or in a life-threatening situation. Feigning sickness is almost effortless. A cough here, a whimper there and the parent will sell land because health is wealth.

5. Handouts and textbooks

This is the biggest scam after most government-funded projects. Handouts, on the higher side, do not go past the price of two eggs. Textbooks, on the other hand, are easily accessible in the library with most lecturers recycling coursework from when smoke signals were still a thing. Of course, many parents would not know this.