Why the issue of ‘invalid’ courses should be addressed urgently

Last year the Supreme Court of Kenya determined a case which pitied graduates of engineering courses. The apex court overturned the court of appeal’s decision of handing the engineers registration board a win thus rendering the graduates ‘useless’.

In its decision, the court ordered the ERB to register the graduates from Moi University, Egerton University and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, besides paying the affected students Ksh. 200,000 and an interest. However, the students had already been wasted in a way, since they had stayed for a decade without registration.

Such effects and laws suits are sure to follow in the near future, if the current wave of declaration of some university degree courses as ‘useless’ is anything to go by.

The move by the Kenya Universities and colleges Placement Service (KUCCPS) to declare 133 bachelor degree courses from various universities in the country has raised tension and sent jitters to students, parents and vice chancellors.

The possible invalidation of the courses will see a whole 10,000 students affected a thing which is likely to spark uproar and even protests.

Already, students have been caught in a limbo- they can be seen on campus talking in hushed tones about the matter, lest the devil hears them and makes this whole thing a reality.

Truth be told, most if not all university students look forward to graduating with a good grade and securing a job, or enhancing their personal development through the knowledge that they will have acquired.

However, in the contemporary world, in Kenya especially, one’s knowledge is measured by what valid papers read. That is why the potential victims of this phenomenon are and should be a worried lot.

Again, no parent will wish to see their son or daughter go through school for four years or close to that, only for their efforts to be nullified by a problem what they had no hand in engineering.

Imagine, for example, a student who is near completion of a course that has been listed as ‘invalid’. This student will have wasted their time and money on campus, burning midnight oil and going extra miles to secure a bright future, only for the end result to pull them to the rock bottom- in a split second decision.

This calls for the government and university administrations to sit together and solve this matter urgently, and, if possible, in a way that will not affect comrades adversely. Scrapping courses which have a total capacity of 10,000 students will be akin to scrapping a whole university. Who could wish that to happen? Unto you, Ma’am Amina.