Diploma Dreams Dashed: Meru University’s Three-Year Tragedy
More than 700 diploma students at Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) face a bleak and uncertain future as a result of the institution’s failure to issue them certificates long after they completed their respective courses.
Most impacted is the class of 2020, which joined MUST to pursue diploma courses under the TVET CDACC program, which, like all listed diploma courses on the institution’s website, lasts for two years.
They argue that, at best, they should have been among the 10th graduating class of March 2023, whose names are listed on the MUST website. We have seen the names and admission letters of none of the affected cohort’s graduates.
With little to no recourse, they now watch helplessly as their labor goes to waste.
Concerningly, however, there are other cohorts of students pursuing various diploma courses under the TVET CDACC program who, if the issue is not resolved promptly, are likely to suffer the same fate.
Njeri* (not her real name), a student at MUST enrolled in the TVET Curriculum Development Assessment and Certification Council (CDACC), is extremely anxious. She has not received verifiable grades for all of her years of study, and she has missed her study schedules.
She enrolled in the institution in 2020 and expected to complete the two-year Information, Communication, and Technology program in 2022, but she did not. In her approximately 50-member class, no one graduated either. “I received my first grade in May 2023, during my freshman year,” she says.
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In a cruel twist of fate, the transcript Nancy received in May of that year lacked all unit grades and was riddled with errors. Additionally, she was informed that KNEC, not TVET CDACC, which had overseen her studies, should have provided the results.
The administration informed me this week that we have been removed from KNEC and placed under the TVET CDACC wing. The administration is uncertain regarding our grades. “I took the initiative to visit the KNEC offices to inquire if they are the ones who will give us the diploma, and they informed me that the relationship between KNEC and CDACC is analogous to a come-and-stay arrangement, and they do not have the authority to give us the certificate or result slip,” she explains.
Currently, the university has provided the students with a result slip, which raises Nancy’s eyebrows because it states, “This is not an editable transcript.”
According to her provisional transcripts, Nancy has missing grades and must retake the exams in July 2023.
However, she is concerned about the looming uncertainty surrounding the exams. “The unit exams for missing grades will take place in July. I have no idea when it will begin. She ponders, “I don’t have the funds, so how can you tell me to retake the exams?”
We attempted to contact the administration to inquire about the upcoming exams in July, but they instructed us to await communication from the TVET CDACC.
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The university held a commencement ceremony on 11 March 2023 to award degrees and diplomas to graduates, but Nancy and other TVET CDACC students were surprisingly not included.
The ICT diploma student applied for the program through the KUCCPS portal and was required to pay between Sh19,000 and Sh23,000 per semester in fees in addition to Sh5,600 for exams.
“We paid for examinations for which we never received results. Exams bore the TVET CDACC logo, and examiners were from the same organization. “It remains a mystery how the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) entered the picture,” she says.
David Njeng’ere, chief executive officer of the KNEC, clarified to GossipA2Z that the council had assumed control of TVET CDACC, but distanced itself from claims of delayed completion.
“KNEC took over the TVET CDACC assessment function in July of last year,” he replied. However, the vice-chancellor of MUST has access to all relevant information. He should be the one to respond regarding student graduation.
Mr. Ochenge*, a second affected student, enrolled at Meru University in November 2022 to pursue a Diploma in Mechatronics, which he had planned to complete within two academic years.
Two and a half years later, he reports that he is behind schedule and that his path appears to have taken an unexpected, unprecedented turn.
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“Each academic year consisted of three semesters, and in July of the previous year, we completed our coursework and began an industrial placement. Therefore, we anticipated graduating at the end of last year or the start of this year,” he explains.
Now, when Ochenge and his classmates receive their first exam results in April of this year, the prospect of graduating appears unrealistic.
“On a government-sponsored basis, I took 21 units and paid Ksh 114,000 for the entire program, while self-funded students paid a slightly higher fee,” he explains.
However, three years later, the mechatronics class of 41 students has been abandoned.
Ochenge’s class will be unsure of their grades in June 2021 because they have taken the first exam but have not yet received the results.
The administration, led by a TVET director, repeatedly urged them to have patience while the TVET CDACC processed and released the results.
“We contacted the school’s registrar, vice-chancellor, and other administrators, who claimed that TVET was a government entity over which they had no authority. We were somewhat persuaded because those who are completing the diploma under MUST have no issues,” he says.
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Evans states that the teaching and setting of the exams were performed by MUST lecturers, but an external organization, TVET CDACC, was involved in evaluating the exam’s standards and administering it.
The mechatronics student observes that the 2020 class was the first to participate in the TVET CDACC program.
“We are confused, as we took our first exams in March-April 2021 and our second exams in September. We began requesting our results in 2022, but we still have not received them. The administration informed us immediately after the August 2022 elections that we had been transferred from TVET CDACC to KNEC, and it wasn’t until April 2023, after a student uprising, that the university gave us a provisional transcript with missing units,” he says, adding that they expected KNEC to provide them with all their results once they had completed the industrial attachment.
The Director of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) at MUST, Mr. Thiaine Kubaison, stated that “the problem is not with the institution.”
The CDACC’s responsibilities were transferred to KNEC in response to a presidential directive, he said.
“Only recently were they reinstated. There is uncertainty regarding who should release exams. This confusion harms institutions and students.”
“When their responsibilities changed, they had access to our results and reports. As you are aware, an examination body cannot share results with a council,” he continued, explaining that the CDACC examination system functions similarly to the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), in which students must pass all exams to graduate. “Those who meet these criteria will graduate in October of this year.”
Diploma Dreams Dashed: Meru University’s Three-Year Tragedy
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