Reprieve as MKU waives fees for graduates with pending arrears

Mount Kenya University (MKU) has waived fees for students who have completed their studies at the institution but are still unable to clear the arrears and thus yet to collect their certificates.

This has made their transition to the job market difficult with many opportunities requiring them to show their certificates. 

Chairman and founder of MKU Prof Simon Gicharu directed the university to release the certificates of students who had already completed their studies and graduated but the institution continued to retain their papers because of fee arrears.

“Allow me to look back at our previous graduands who were unable to collect their certificate due to varied reasons, the main one being, non-completion of fees at the graduation time,” he said.

He also encouraged them to clear their arrears when they eventually settle into new jobs, noting the funds that be collected would be used to support needy students seeking higher learning.

“Today, I direct the University to release the certificates unconditionally to all those affected by fee balance. Any collections from those accounts in case the beneficiaries after securing jobs feel indebted to clear the fees should go in support of the Chancellor’s Scholarship. This gesture should also incorporate the previous graduates of our university in Rwanda,” Gicharu said.

He spoke Friday during the university’s 25th graduation ceremony which was themed “University Sustainability through Research and Innovation”.

Prof Gicharu also said partnerships that the university has with German and Austrian institutions are yielding fruits, with healthcare students now starting to go to the two European nations to pursue their careers.

A partnership deal between MKU and the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences of Germany has been providing apprenticeship opportunities for Nursing professionals from Eastern Africa to work in German Hospitals.

“The first cohort travelled to Germany in April 2024 and the second cohort is part of this graduation and will be travelling to Germany in September 2024,” he said.

Prof Gicharu added that in supporting the initiative, the German Government, through the development agency DAAD, had appointed Ms. Charlotte Katharin Filbry to assist Mount Kenya University (MKU) in training students in the German language.

This training is a mandatory part of the pre-departure preparation.

MKU has also been collaborating with Austrian health authorities and Lebenshilfe Tirol, which will integrate 40 trained MKU nurses annually into Austrian hospitals and elderly care homes.

The first two candidates in the programme will depart in October.

MKU, Prof Gicharu also said, had partnered with the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry to establish an innovation and incubation centre at the university.

The centre will be funded by a World Bank grant and aims at supporting early-stage businesses in the fields of manufacturing, agriculture, creative economy, health and ICT.

Prof. John Struthers, the Chancellor of MKU, said the university had made major inroads in partnering with global institutions to increase opportunities for students and faculty and would continue to pursue partnerships.

“I take great pride in the conspicuous growth of partnerships-driven teaching, research and community outreach activities at MKU which involves many partnerships with universities across the world.  For instance, the new engagements between MKU and a number of new partners from Japan, Europe and Australia cannot go unmentioned,” he said.

“At a local level, the partnerships signed with the Cape Media’s Talent Academy, with the Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH) among many others are indeed significant achievements.”

At the graduation held at the University’s Happy Valley Grounds in Thika, 7,974  students graduated.

Principal Secretary of State Department for Higher Education and Research Dr Beatrice Muganda Inyangala said the government was keen on getting research-based solutions to enable it to achieve the goals of its Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda.

“As government, we are working closely with a wide spectrum of stakeholders in the Research, Science, Technology and Innovation ecosystem to catalyse progress towards attainment of the targets set out in our Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda around: Healthcare; Agriculture; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); Housing and Settlement; and, the Digital Superhighway and Creative Economy,” said Dr Inyangala who was the chief guest during the graduation.

She also acknowledged the role MKU has been playing in the bid to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Number Four (SDG 4) on access to quality education.

The University has for the last three years been hosting the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) SDG 10 Hub on Reduced Inequalities for the past three years. 

“The milestones achieved are attributed to the University’s innovative programmes in teaching, research and community engagement,” she said

Rev Jackson Ole Sapit ACK Archbishop told the graduates to seek wisdom even as they put the skills they had learned to use.

“Our young people, you have reached a stage where you are in a position of making decisions. Let us all remember the decisions that we make will either brighten tomorrow or gloom it or even destroy it,” he said.

He also cautioned them on the route they would take, noting that insofar as family was concerned, many people were going astray.

“As we dedicate this year’s graduands, we want to dedicate them in the context of family because I think we have lost it in a big way at the family level," he said. 

“You have acquired so much, you have a lot of information at your fingertips, you have what it takes to make a difference but what you require now is wisdom.”