Students at universities call off protests to pay tribute to fire victims.
Students at universities call off protests to pay tribute to fire victims.
Due to security concerns, a group of leaders among university students have decided to postpone their scheduled walkout against the new university funding model in order to honor the time of sorrow following the horrific Endarasha fire, which claimed the lives of numerous children.
The student leaders have decided to give the victims of the Endarasha fire some space and time to grieve in a dignified manner by calling off the strike.
In spite of this, they have given the government a 30-day ultimatum and are expecting prompt action to resolve their concerns about the contentious finance scheme.
They have threatened to hold more protests if their complaints are not resolved in the allotted period.
“Given the current climate and the political mobilization of groups potentially disrupting our protests, it is best to pursue dialogue and temporarily suspend our demonstrations,” declared Zadock Nyakwaka, a student leader.
Claire Gathoga, a student at Kenyatta University, has critiqued the funding model’s banding categories and suggested reducing them to three in order to guarantee parity.
“The current categories need to be simplified to three for fairness and transparency,” she stated.
Kenyatta University lawmaker Kevin Marwa expressed worries about excessive loan interest rates, pointing out that medical students could graduate with debts of up to Ksh 1 million.
“The 4% interest rate is excessive, especially for students from low-income families without job guarantees,” he bemoaned.
Chuka University’s Adrian Oluoch called for inclusive talks and recommended that parents and first-year students participate in the conversation to either modify or reevaluate the funding mechanism.
“We need meaningful engagement to either revise the model or scrap it entirely,” he said.
The government’s approach to public participation was challenged by David Karani of the Elimu Bora Working Group, who said, “The engagement was insufficient before implementing this model.” In court, our lawsuit against it is still underway.”
CS Julius Ogamba has formed a committee to examine and resolve the issues around the new finance mechanism in response to the concerns expressed.
Students at universities call off protests to pay tribute to fire victims.
