Students at the University of Nairobi (UON) are up in arms over the appalling living conditions in their on-campus housing. The University of Nairobi Student Association (UNSA) held a press conference on Sunday, April 21st, to voice their concerns and demand immediate action from the university administration.
UNSA President Rocha Madzao, along with other student leaders, highlighted the unacceptable state of the hostels. These issues include:
Poor sanitation
Inadequate hygiene standards
Dilapidated infrastructure, with leaking roofs and faulty drainage systems
“These conditions are detrimental to the well-being and safety of the students,” stated Madzao. “We urge the UON to take immediate and decisive steps to address this pressing issue.”
Students emphasized the urgency of the situation, with one representative pointing out the potential health risks posed by inadequate drainage and leaks. They warned that a university-wide strike would be called within 48 hours if their demands were not met.
“We are training to be future doctors, architects, and leaders, not deep-sea divers living in flooded rooms,” said a student leader. “The university administration needs to take concrete steps to fix these problems. Otherwise, we will be forced to escalate our actions.”
The students’ protest highlights the importance of safe and healthy living conditions for university students. The situation at UON serves as a reminder for universities across the country to prioritize student well-being and ensure proper maintenance of on-campus housing facilities.
Oh, the dreaded KCSE results are out, after a whole lot of teens spent an agonizing several weeks wondering if they ‘made their parents proud’, or flunked.
The strange thing – an average teen’s mind, it’s not trepidations of self-doom – but an often misconstrued perception of letting other parties down.
The media doesn’t help, either. The major media houses play, on loop, clips of candidates with exemplary results in song and dance with their teachers. Hey, who said everyone wants to be hoisted shoulder high? Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is jarring up and down on someone’s shoulder as he dances to some celebratory folk song?
Psychological bullying, too.
Father: The exam results are out. Let’s see if we sold a cow to take another cow to school.
Son: But, father…..
Fret not, dear teen. Life is hardly a case of winning or losing, or a life or death matter.
An elementary online search of the most successful people on the planet will show most abandoned schooling, at some point. What’s the secret, though? The secret lies in life skills, ambition and a level of dedicated mentorship.
That’s where the Kenyan education system horribly fails. Albeit, lately there’s been a few changes to improve the traditional learning to a modern Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). Earlier generations have suffered from a mind condition – especially on the exam results ranking system.
Father: What position were you?
Son: Number 3, dad.
Father: Why did you allow that? You need to be number one, next term. Promise?
In this parent’s mind, it doesn’t matter if they count and toss marbles the entire day. As long as the son comes first, the sky is blue.
A discerning parent need be aware the strengths and weaknesses of his child. Weak in arithmetic, but can fashion an incredible-looking car from a discarded jerry can. That’s a gift. Weak in languages, but clearly gifted in beadwork and cooking. Some gift, that is. A kid loves animals in the farm, take notice.
Nurture those underscored gifts the kids display from an early age.
Dear parent, if your candidate offspring scored a seemingly weak grade: C-, D+, D or below, worry not. The A-cluster students aren’t necessarily more gifted or brighter. Perhaps, more advantaged in terms of resources and backgrounds. Mostly, though, what they’ve over the D student is dedicated mentorship.
In Kenya, particularly, the crop of students at the C – E aggregate usually turn out to be very influential later in life. A large group of serving politicians – MPs and MCAs, belong here. Police and Army bosses. Influential and affluent business people rise from here.
As the A and B grade lot line up for universities in 3-4 year degree courses, start the mentorship journey with your D-grade student. Have an evaluation talk with the child. What’s the strength? Major on that strength.
Enroll them at local, community-based polytechnics. Register for a carpentry course. Basic electronics or fabrication courses. Power mechanics – or, in less pretentious terms, learn to be a car mechanic. Apply for apprenticeship at the local welding or bike repair garage. Basic agri-business courses, et al.
These 2 year courses hardly cost much.
File image of UON students
The university peers, meanwhile, are twerking, boozing and waltzing through their 2nd year, in campus. Hopefully, campus riots and general unrest hasn’t paused this run.
Mentor this child. Open a startup for them, or with them. If you lack skills, appoint an appropriate business mentor for basic lessons. Watch and push them to grow this business.
Chances are, in 4 years the D-cluster students will be running business start-ups that end up employing their graduate peers.
Let’s stop the backward notion that grades are the necessary gateway to success in life.
That conditioning has produced out-of-touch disgruntled self-effacing graduates that often-times slide into depressive hopelessness, if the job market doesn’t, or wont, open up on time.
