MULTIMEDIA
UNIVERSITY: IS IT WORTH THE PAIN? A STUDENT’S VIEW
By
Gentle Nique (0722 396028)
Multimedia University
is on strike and students have been given fifteen minutes to clear from their
premises is what hit me as I headed for school this morning.
De ja vu? Exactly. It
is barely two years since I joined the school and I have already experienced
two strikes.
The first strike happened
in June and the news got me in the same way as this one. I was away minding a
very important business in Kenyatta University when on my way back to school I heard
touts and passengers talking about Multimedia University students having gone
on strike.
The first strike was
occasioned by a draconian policy borne from poor management. The policy of
paying 100% fees on the first day in school did not pass the test of logic.
Students wondered what the school was up to with most being self sponsored who
pay fees to the tune of Kshs. 85, 000. Even in leading universities like
University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University this is not the case. Students
are given at least a month to clear their balance.
Students tried to
reason with the management to reconsider their stance but all fell on deaf
ears. The students staring into bleak future after exhausting dialogue were
left with no option but to call on the use of force. This was the only way the
dictatorial management was going to give reasoning a chance.
The management buckled
at the pressure and introduced a new policy where students are not allowed to
sit for examination without clearing their fees balance. Despite this policy,
students were still hunted from lecture halls and sent home more often than
not. You were left to wonder whether you made a mistake of enrolling in another
secondary school after completing your four years in high school.
Fast forward, the state
of management has not improved. In fact it has deteriorated to its nadir. Some
administrators are arrogant while some have ‘I do not care’ attitude. Service
delivery is at its lowest point. Lecturers are rarely in class, pavilion is
pathetically run with students shoving every time to access meals, the state of
ablutions in the hostels is terrible and internet connection is wanting despite
students paying huge levies for the same.
In the first strike all
students were forced to pay for the damages even when most of them were not in
school then. This left many students bitter and parents disillusioned. Despite the charges not any development
happened in the school with only noticeable change being some administrators growing
their ‘vitambis’.
This time round it was
because of electricity which was being repaired by the school not being put
back in place on time as promised. It was callous for the first year students
to strike but this was because of stored up anger over incompetent and arrogant
management and lastly because of inefficient service delivery.
I do not, in any way,
support strikes but even if a saint was to school at this university, he will
be left with no choice but to go on the rampage.
For how long do you
expect students to stomach such inefficiency and apparent lack of interest in
their welfare when only what the management is concerned with is money which is
never invested in their welfare after being collected?
The Ministry of
Education through the Cabinet Secretary needs to move swiftly and conduct an
audit on this school before push turns into shove.
No wonder students have
coined a name for the university from its acronym M.M.U: Money Minded
University.
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