MKU graduates 6,500 students as colleges battle impact of pandemic u

The Mountain Journal

By James Wakahiu

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an upsurge of crime related to mental disorder in institutions of higher learning.

Dr Jane Nyuttu, Co-Founder and Member, Board of Directors, Mount Kenya University (MKU) says many incidents of suicide and murders in illicit relationships among the youth, violence directed to teachers and parents, as well as drug and substance abuse and addictions have spiked during the pandemic.

To mitigate this, MKU has launched a Mind and Beyond Counselling Centre to tackle mental health issues among students and youth in society. “The fully-fledged programme aims to get to the root of mental health challenges blamed for a worrying surge in reported cases of violence, criminality and bizarre incidents involving young people,” she added.

Speaking during MKU’s 19^th graduation ceremony held over the weekend, Dr Nyuttu said a new MKU Convention Centre will be commissioned soon. “It has a sitting capacity for 2,000 people and will support the region in hosting drama festivals, local and international conferences, public lectures as well as community gatherings. The spacious facility allows social distancing when holding large gatherings,” she added. 

MKU vice-chancellor, Prof Deo Jaganyi said despite the impact of COVID-19, the university has continued to strive in enrolling students for the various academic programmes. “This has been made possible by the ICT infrastructural support systems that the University has put in place to support e-learning mode of delivery of content.  Today, we are witnessing graduands who went through online learning and examination in the recent past during the period of suspension of face-to-face learning,” he added.

MKU has meanwhile introduced an academic progression monitoring tool will help to ensure that the students and their guardians can accurately determine the academic standing of every student at any given time.  “It will also enhance the efficiency of planning and monitoring of students’ academic progression from the point of entry to exit from the university,” added Prof Jaganyi.

 During the ceremony held virtually, 6,556 students graduated, with 53 per cent (3,505) being male and 47 per cent (3,051) female.  Among these were 10 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) graduands, 165 165 Masters Degrees, 130 Postgraduate Diplomas, 4,678 Bachelor’s Degrees,  1,192 Diplomas and  381certificate holders.

He said the necessary infrastructure for mounting the Master of Laws programme is in place and the University is looking forward towards admitting its first cohort of freshmen in the September-December 2021/2022 semester. 

The chairman of the University Council, Prof. David Serem, said MKU recognises that retired staff, especially professors can still make immense contribution in research and in mentorship of postgraduate students.  The institution therefore has put measures in place to support the retirees and to benefit from their knowledge and experiences.

Highlighting the rising prominence of partnerships at MKU, Prof John Struthers, Chancellor MKU said the university has been recognised by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) Office in New York through a unique opportunity to serve as the UNAI Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 10 Hub) on Reduced Inequalities.

An existing MoU between the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and MKU which has seen over 35 students secure full scholarships at the university in 2021 is also another milestone. “Similarly in March 2021, MKU recently signed a prestigious partnership agreement with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) via which more than 20 members of faculty are engaged in different research activities whose actualization also includes scholars from other institutions of higher learning across the African continent,” he said.

Additionally, MKU was recently awarded the International Junior Nurse Fellowship by the Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust (BDCFT) in the United Kingdom. Launched last month, the 12-month long project that will be delivered virtually and benefit 10 competitively selected senior student nurses at the institution.

The chief guest, Prof Waswa Balunywa, Principal Makerere University Business School, Uganda, urged African countries to design an education system that gives them the skills needed at the different levels in the economy.  “While the structure of higher education in a country depends mainly on government and government effort, professionals play a role in shaping education depending on the level of advancement,” he said.

Prof Balunywa decried the lack of emphasis on natural resources in the continent’s education system. “For instance, East Africa and the entire Sub-Saharan Africa has numerous water bodies around it, but there have been no studies in water resources that can be identified in primary schools, secondary schools and even tertiary institutions,” he said.

He said Africa is a vast potential in green energy, but little emphasizes is placed on energy as a university course. “ This would be a major source of energy.  Quite often, we mimic the developed countries in what they are doing, forgetting that we would create a better continent if we had studied our resources

He urged for increased focus on agriculture, which employs 60 to 90 per cent of the African population.  Focusing on the graduation ceremony theme of Enhancement of Equity, diversity and Inclusion through Community Engagement, the principal called for increased funding for bright but poor university students in the continent.  Prof Waswa Balunywa is a scholar in Management, Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

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