Housing crisis for varsity students

While as newly established varsities such as Kimathi University College are godsend to students willing to pursue further education, housing the students is many a university’s problem, writes MARION NDUNG’U

Michael Oduor (not his real name) a fourth year student at Kimathi University College is frustrated with his landlord. He pays Sh4,000 for a small room he shares with a friend that has barely enough room for a reading table.

“The owner says that they will provide hot water for bathing in the morning but rarely does it,” said Oduor.

Oduor cannot afford a better place but he is not happy. He cannot wait to finish his degree programme and leave the premises. He says that he does not expect to live an exorbitant life— as a student— but says he should at least get value for his money. The room has barely enough space for the two roommates to go about their business without brushing shoulders.

As institutions of higher learning continue to increase, the number of students admitted in these sprouting institutions need accommodation, a lot, of which universities cannot provide. While a few years ago most colleges could easily admit all their students, these days, it is not uncommon to see hostels in towns and within living estates.

Gone are the days that entry to a university was dictated by the availability of bed space. With the upsurge of universities in the country, the demand for living spaces has become a challenge to many students.

Kimathi University College is one of the newest institutions of higher learning and faces students’ accommodation challenge.

The principal of the college in Nyeri Prof Ndirangu Kioni says that the universities are now prioritising on the provision of learning facilities other than the provision of accommodation facilities. The task of providing accommodation, he says, the university has left to private developers.

Private partnership

“We encourage investors to provide hostels and have a system of accrediting them. On admission, we give the list to the students from which they choose one,” says Kioni.

In another hostel, a resident laments that they   suffer ridiculous power rationing.  He claims that lights are switched off at six in the morning and back on at six in the evening. This is despite paying Sh2,000 per person in a room of four. He says that in the cold season when it is cloudy, it is difficult to study due to low visibility.

Undoubtedly, there are a number of well-constructed hostels in the area. However, the majority of the hostels appear to have been hurriedly done by unscrupulous business people keen to cash in the business opportunity with little regard to their conditions.

Another student Samson Wahome* says that he resides in a hostel where rooms are separated by plywood and privacy is completely lost.

Many Western countries collaborate with the surrounding communities to provide accommodation to the student population and varsities in Kenya may take the same route to avert housing crisis.

 

Conducive environment

While this is a win-win situation for both university administration and private developers, the university should have a screening process to ensure students live in habitable conditions, conducive for learning.

Students living in accommodation provided by institutions often enjoy highly subsidised accommodation. Sometimes what they pay for a semester is equivalent to what their colleagues in private residences pay for a month.

The woes of students do not end here as those who choose to live in residential complexes constantly find themselves being rejected.

An agent in Nyeri, who, spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the students often make other tenants uncomfortable with loud music and the company they keep.

“I do not give my houses to students at all. Some hang out with people of questionable character and have no respect for their neighbours. They play loud music late into the night and often have parties with a lot of alcohol,” he said.

In case of theft and burglaries, these students are often the prime suspects especially since the hours they spend in the premises are unpredictable unlike those of the working tenants, who will often leave in the morning and return in the evening.

It is, however, not all grim as there are also good accommodation facilities near the college where students can live comfortably and enjoy good meals and be accessible in times of emergencies.

It is understandable that individuals who construct hostels need to make a profit but it raises the question as to who puts checks and balances to ensure these people are not exploiting students who have nowhere else to go.

Accredited hostels

Prof Kioni says that the university accredits the hostels and gives a list of accredited hostels to the university students. He, however, acknowledges that some students choose to live in other premises that have not been accredited.

Every so often they review the hostels to make sure they are up to standards. He says that they want students to be as close as possible to the institution and have communities in the halls of residence where students can engage in activities that help them bond.

“This is a private public partnership between the university and investors,” adds Kioni.

He points out that accredited hostels have access to the university ambulance and it is easy to reach them. “These hostels have good roads leading there and have direct telephone line to the university” Prof Kioni adds.

As the number of institutions of higher learning continues to grow, students will have to grapple with the fact that accommodation is expensive and that institutions cannot accommodate all their students.

The area around the university is a din of construction as hostels come up. While, as many are beautiful apartments, tucked away are some that are anything but attractive even from the outside. In one street, an open sewer is exposed privy to what the students are exposed to.

Worlds apart

Others are living in iron sheet houses. These are hardly comfortable getting too hot when the weather is hot and too cold in cold weather.

Some of the students feel that they are being exploited by private investors but as it is, there is nowhere else to go.

Samuel Maina an architectural designer based in Nyeri says that in the drawing and design of hostels, they must ensure that the sewerage and other vital parts of the hostel are in place.

“First, we verify that the person has land in the said place before we design. In our drawings, we also consider the population of the people, which is determined by the size of the cubes,” says Maina.

He notes that some of the investors choose to involve the designers in the groundwork after the design is complete but says that this is left to the investor’s discretion. He says that it is better to continue to work with the designers or architects to ensure conditions are met to the specifications of the design work.

Silver lining

Kioni says that they cannot really control the amount of money private investors charge as the investors are in it for the profits. The university college currently accommodates a paltry 500 students and gives priority to those with disabilities and first year students.

The situation is not unique to Kimathi University College. Many of the newly established varsities now find themselves stretched for space to accommodate the large number of students that are constantly flowing to pursue higher education.

Currently Kimathi University provides transport to students leaving far from the university at a small fee. By doing this, the  administration hopes to make the lives of the students bearable.

Prof Kioni says that once the university sufficiently provides learning facilities, it will venture into provision of accommodation. Meanwhile, students  have to swallow the bitter pill  and rely on private investors for their accommodation needs in the short term.