Chancellor's pavilion where the CU hold their Sunday services and also where the Compassion Ministry hold their “mega collection” on the last day of “compassion week”.
Struggles of Kenyan university students
by Eric Bosire • 1 February 2024
It is every Kenyan child’s dream to join university. Due to various factors the dream in some children may diminish along the way. Students from all walks of life strive hard in primary and secondary school for a place in the university. This striving for a good future brings joy and delight to their parents and the community at large.
University is the epitome of education, because it is the gateway to various career paths. After a successful completion of university education, students qualify to enter the job market, so that they can help in the development of the economy with the hope of a good income. Though the reality may be different because of the struggle to get employment, it is good to be ready and armed with a degree certificate. Nelson Mandela, a former South Africa president once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
The average time a Kenyan student spends in the university is four years. During their time in the university, students go through a lot both academically and socially. To understand this better, I met Samson Mapesa, a third year mathematics and statistics student at Kisii University, who shared a little bit about a Kenyan university student and the challenges they go through.
Mapesa started by saying that acquiring basic needs for most Kenyan university students is a daunting task. While some students have parents capable of providing everything for them, others have to find different ways of meeting their needs. “It is very easy to spot a few students at construction sites around the campus area doing manual work for small pay. This means that they will have to miss a few classes. At night, some girls engage in prostitution so as to get that extra shilling to take care of themselves,” said Mapesa.
School fees is a major challenge for most university students in Kenya. As some students will have their fees paid throughout the year without delay, to others it’s a struggle to get the fees paid. It’s a pity that some students discontinue their learning for lack of school fees.
Though county governments often give out bursaries to struggling students, it is barely enough to cater for the fees. It might only help pay out around 15% to 50% and that is it. Additionally, not every student who applies for such a bursary will get it.
“If a parent/guardian can't chip in to cater for university fees, some students will have to drop out or even defer with the hope that they might catch up later. Very few come back to finish, meaning their dreams are shut down by their inability to afford a university education,” said Mapesa.
The National government through the Higher Education Loans Board also helps students with their fees. However, there arose an issue in the recent past of late disbursement of funds, which led to some demonstrations at some universities like Machakos university1. The issue was later resolved through the Kenyan courts2.
The HELB loans come in handy in helping the students, but the money is not enough for them to meet their basic needs due to the current rise in the cost of living. Some students resort to operating some small businesses in school like selling sweets, fast foods like fries and sausages, selling fruits, and many other businesses.
University is like a free world, and no one cares much about what a student does in their own free time. As students start to interact with other students from different backgrounds, they often share ideas and learn from each other.
“Part of learning from each other means some students will influence other students in both positive and negative ways,” said Mapesa.
According to Mapesa, some students might be influenced by other students to engage in drug and substance abuse which slows down their progress in education. “They engage in such activities with the desire to fit in since we all know that humans are social beings and might want to feel some sense of love to feel like they belong to a community,” he said
Students engage in boy, girl relationships which is okay because they are adults. However, without proper guidance these relationships end up bringing problems. Love is a beautiful thing so it is said, but when it comes to a student it is often not that beautiful because they may rush into relationships without thinking and end up getting disappointed.
“Some students will fall into depression, some will commit suicide, some will end up fighting with their lovers and some end up with unwanted diseases and pregnancies. All these challenges will either slow down a student's progress or even force them to dump their lifelong dreams completely,” said Mapesa.
Where there is a problem, a solution ought to be sought and Mapesa thinks something should be done to reduce some challenges they go through. “Within the university premises and inside the university, basic needs should be subsidized to enable struggling students to afford them. Kenyan universities should look for ways of providing cheap food, housing and clothes for the students to help them focus more on their education,” he said.
According to Mapesa, the government should collaborate with universities to sponsor some courses so that struggling students can get help. Education is a way of moulding young people into valuable personnel in society. “A society with few doctors indicates that people in that community struggle to access proper health care. Therefore, the government and the universities must ensure that students can afford their education,” said Mapesa.
Mapesa feels there is a need to have a guidance and counselling department in the university which will help guide students struggling to fit in to feel comfortable the way they are. They don't have to change anything about themselves to impress others as long as they are on the right path as this will minimize regrets in the future.
In Mapesa’s viewpoint, Kenyan universities should create awareness on sexually transmitted diseases and guide students on what love is. “The best way of preventing unwanted diseases is by creating awareness. The university should educate students on proper ways of engaging in sexual intercourse to help students from having unwanted pregnancies. Telling them to abstain is not working anymore,” said Mapesa.
With the prevailing circumstances under which Kenyan university students live, there probably has to be somebody somewhere willing to give a helping hand. In almost all Kenyan universities we have a student ministry called Christian Union (CU). I pursued this ministry to know what they are doing in regards to the challenges facing the students.
The Kisii University Christian Union has nine ministries running under it, they include, Compassion and Counselling Ministry, High School Ministry dealing with outreach to high schools, Church School Ministry responsible for the children of the university’s staff and children within the university surrounding, Choir Ministry is for singing, Creativity Ministry exhibits the work of God artistically, Ushering Ministry offers ushering services during church services and whenever they are needed, Intercessory Ministry is in charge of prayers in the CU, and Praise and worship ministry that leads the CU in praise and worship during the church services. Each ministry has its own leadership and membership, and pursues a specific objective in line with the objectives of the Christian Union. All the ministries come together to form the university church.
I took interest in the Compassion and Counselling Ministry, as the name suggests I guessed they might be dealing with something to do with the welfare of the students. I met Manoah Ian who is the chairman of the ministry, he is a third year student pursuing clinical medicine and surgery. He gladly accepted to tell me about what they do in the Compassion Ministry.
Manoah started by explaining how the Compassion Ministry is constituted and what they do. He said that it is led by a committee of four people, the chairperson, the secretary, treasurer and the prayer coordinator. The secretary to the Christian Union is the overseer of this ministry. He or she represents the ministry to the executive committee of the Christian Union. On the spiritual growth of students Manoah said that the Compassion Ministry works together in conjunction with the other ministries under CU to make sure that the message of God reaches everyone in the university through the church services on Sundays and various programmes as per every ministry.
“All the members of the Compassion Ministry led by the committee take part in the ministry activities which majorly include charity work and welfare programmes especially to the university students,” said Manoah. The ministry focuses on issues such as lack of basic needs majorly like food and clothing. They offer counselling services to any problematic issue that may arise to the students. “The students go through a lot of challenges that affect their general well-being; lack of shelter, lack of school fees, peer pressure, relationship issues, just to mention but a few. These issues can prove to be devastating to a student and therefore Compassion Ministry is always there to give a helping hand,” added Manoah.
Manoah continued and said that they carry out self-awareness campaigns to students and once in a while they do charity activities outside the university whereby they visit institutions like prisons, children's homes and rehabilitation centres and in those institutions, they make donations as they share the love of Christ together. They also carry out mental awareness campaigns to them which helps them feel embraced in whichever institutions they are in and make them feel the society has not neglected them.
In the works they are doing as ministry, Manoah said they draw inspiration from the Bible in the book of 2 Corinthians 9: 6-8 that says, “But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows abundantly will also reap abundantly. Everyone should give as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly, or from compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace flow to you in abundance, so that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may have an abundance for every good work.”
Back to the university students, when it comes to helping with food, Manoah said that they have liaised with the university students mess (where students serve their food from). “We design and produce meal cards which we provide to the students who reach out to us.” The meal cards help with identity such that the students are able to serve food with ease.
The cards indicate the type of meal and the amount of money a student has spent on a meal. When it reaches a certain amount the Compassion Ministry pays on behalf of the students. The program runs throughout the semester. For this programme, they are very strict to ensure that all students involved are eligible because food matters are very sensitive and naughty students might find their way in the programme.
The ministry works under very limited resources and the needs are many. In terms of accommodation, the ministry reaches out to the halls officer in the university’s halls department who is in charge of accommodation whereby they negotiate on behalf of students with accommodation issues. “Having proved to the halls officer that certain students need help, we negotiate for them so that they may be hosted in the university hostels and make their payments later when they have money. By doing so, the students have a peace of mind and concentrate on their studies. Our ministry has really helped because the department that deals with accommodation is very strict,” said Manoah.
For the clothing, they collect a lot of materials during the compassion week (it is explained at the end of the article). “Among the things we collect are clothes which we give to students who reach out to us. These students probably don't have enough clothes or cannot afford to buy. They select for themselves the clothes that they like and which fits them well. People are good out here, they give us good clothes,” said Manoah.
With school fees they help come up with possible solutions because school fees is something they cannot handle at the moment due to minimal resources, but Manoah hopes that in the future they will be able to pay school fees for some needy students. They normally create groups on social media platforms to seek contribution support. In the groups they add Christian Union members, members of the staff, friends and well-wishers. All the monies collected helps the needy students that reach out. “Sometimes, it is difficult to respond to every needy case because the money raised is not enough, but we thank God for those that we manage to help,” Manoah added.
One of the donations collection points by Compassion and Counselling Ministry during the “compassion week”.
At the beginning of every semester in line with Christian Union calendar, the Compassion Ministry organizes a “compassion week” which runs from Monday to Sunday according to the set date. “We normally set up collection points with desks that are properly labelled to receive donations from well-wishers inform of money, food, clothing and many other items,” said Manoah. The “compassion week” culminates with a “mega collection” on the last day, that is a Sunday: There is a Sunday service at the university’s main auditorium, and afterwards CU members and the university community at large come in large numbers to support the Compassion Ministry.
Next:
Should a pastor be academically qualified?
by Eric Bosire.
Notes:
1 See https://www.pd.co.ke/news/parents-shock-as-varsities-demand-full-fee-payment-210785/ and https://www.kenyamoja.com/video/machakos-university-students-strike-over-delayed-helb-funds-tv-47-637741 back
2 See https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/govt-assures-of-timely-disbursement-of-helb-loans/ back
About the author:
Eric Bosire is a Kenyan Journalist. He is based in Kisii.
About the images:
Photos by Eric Bosire. Faces blurred for privacy protection.
Suggested citation:
Eric Bosire: Struggles of Kenyan university students. MissionField News (ISSN 2813-2270)
https://missionfield.news/2024/3_Struggles_of_students
2024-02-01.