Greetings. I hope this finds you in good health and in a bubbly mood. It’s my prayer, too, that State House gatekeepers don’t stand in the way of you receiving and reading this letter. I promise you, it’s worth your time.
Your Excellency, I want to let you know that university students are suffering. In particular, I have in mind University of Nairobi undergraduate students. Their cries are loud, yet they are not being heard. Like a voice in the wilderness, they are crying out: “Mr President, save us from Magoha and Kiama!”
Prof George Magoha, your Education Cabinet Secretary, and Prof Stephen Kiama, UoN Vice Chancellor, don’t seem to know the meaning of the word dialogue. This word doesn’t seem to exist in their vocabulary. They rule with an iron fist. It’s either their way or the highway. In fact, Prof Kiama has been nicknamed “bulldozer” while Prof Magoha “Magufuli”, thanks to their dictatorial tendencies.
Your Excellency, since the onset of Covid-19, Magoha has allowed online learning to go on in our schools, colleges and universities. Parents and students have said it is not working, but Magoha has chosen to turn a deaf ear to their concerns. Kiama, on his part, has not only continued to ignore those concerns, but has gone ahead to plan for admission of First Year students.
Mr President, it is my considered opinion that no public university should be allowed to conduct online learning for undergraduate students. As a country, we are not ready. The pandemic caught everyone by surprise. Public universities in Kenya should therefore stop pretending that they had prepared for such an eventuality.
Your Excellency, you will recall that in its submissions to the Supreme Court during the 2017 presidential election petition, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) demonstrated that many parts of the country had poor internet connectivity. It noted that even a county as near capital Nairobi as Kiambu had poor internet connectivity in many parts. What has changed since then? If IEBC had challenges transmitting election results with the help of three service providers, how much of a challenge would it be for a student to attend online classes and undertake online exams with just one service provider?
How is a student in Turkana expected to attend online classes considering the poor state of internet connectivity? How is a student caught in intercommunity clashes in Narok County supposed to attend online classes? How is a student displaced by floods in Budalang’i and relying on relief food supposed to attend online classes? All these fly in the face of our common understanding that education is supposed to be an equaliser, not a tool to promote inequality.
Your Excellency, I also think it’s naïve to assume that all students have smartphones and laptops. Many students in public universities don’t have smartphones, leave alone laptops.
Mr President, online learning is a good idea, but it is untenable at the moment because things are different on the ground.
But even those with laptops and smartphones are at the mercy of Kenya Power. True, you have done well in trying to connect the country to the power grid, but how reliable is the electricity? I live in Nairobi where barely a week passes without powers blackout. I shudder to imagine what happens in many villages where these students come from.
Mr President, online learning is a good idea, but it is untenable at the moment because things are different on the ground.
Before Covid-19, there were serious questions about the quality of Kenyan graduates. According to employers, many graduates didn’t have necessary skills and knowledge needed for the job market. How will online learning improve the quality of our university graduates? Will it really make them more employable? I don’t think so.
In fact, online learning could see us end up not with half-baked graduates (as has been argued before), but “quarter-baked” graduates. If you think otherwise, Mr President, I challenge you to ask the Commission for University Education to conduct a cost benefit analysis on online learning in public universities in Kenya. My hunch is after you receive the results, you will ask all public universities to drop online learning like a hot potato.
Mr President, instead of public universities concentrating on churning out more degrees, they should take this time to rethink what a university degree should really be. This is the right time for universities to scrutinise the quality of their programmes. They should take time to deliberate about what makes a good graduate in this day and age. They should think long and hard about how students’ welfare can be improved. For instance, how will students be accommodated after Covid-19? Or why haven’t we increased students’ loan in decades? And how does this affect the social and academic lives of students?
Your Excellency, as I conclude, I would like to remind you that public universities in Kenya admit the best students, not the richest. These students come from all corners of this country. Not every part of the country has reliable internet and electricity. And not all students in public universities have a smartphone or a laptop. Just the same way not all Kenyans have a television set. It’s very easy to forget these simple things when you are used to Nairobi life.
Mr President, the route taken by the two professors is criminal, insane and ungodly. If you remain silent about this issue, your sins will be tantamount to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Future generations won’t forgive you for allowing these two obstinate professors to gamble with their lives.
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