Punish universities that enroll students in fake courses
Editorials
Punish universities that enroll students in fake courses
Monday, March 14, 2022
A graduation ceremony at a public university. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Some universities continue to expose their students to untold suffering years after graduation when their certificates are rejected by professional organizations.
- Last week, it emerged that 26 courses have not been accredited by the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) and yet these universities continue to recruit new learners.
- This situation could have been avoided if the colleges had done the right thing from the start.
The need for well-educated graduates coming out of our universities cannot be denied. It is also in the interest of all training institutions to ensure that the graduates they produce are acceptable in the marketplace.
This is why it is surprising that some universities continue to expose their students to untold suffering years after graduation when their certificates are rejected by professional organizations.
Last week, it emerged that 26 courses have not been accredited by the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) and yet these universities continue to recruit new learners. This means that their graduates cannot be registered to practice as engineers in the country.
Egerton University, which was among those affected, offered to retrain 200 of its graduates to qualify for accreditation by the industry regulator.
Graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Water and Environmental Engineering (WEEN) have asked Parliament to intervene in their case after EBK refused to accredit them.
This situation could have been avoided if the colleges had done the right thing from the start.
The list of institutions that have had problems with EBK include Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Technical University of Kenya, Technical University of Mombasa, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and the University of Eldoret.
In the middle of last year, the High Court awarded 15 million shillings to 75 former students for failing to secure employment using engineering certificates issued by the Technical University of Kenya (TUK), but no recognized by EBK.
The rejection of diplomas by the EBK was a bitter pill to swallow for parents and guardians who spent thousands of shillings to take their children through five years of training.
As students return to class, Parliament should ensure that officials who let this happen are punished accordingly. Nor should the EBK wait on the line to reject graduates after five years of study.
It can start by publicizing approved courses to ensure that innocent students don’t enroll in unrecognized courses only to find out when it’s too late.