More than 100 students from Uasin Gishu County attending Tampere University in Finland risk being expelled, due to unpaid tuition.
The university’s management has given the students until this coming week’s end to pay their outstanding fees; otherwise, their studies will be stopped and they will be sent home.
The county government is under fire for not paying the costs, even after receiving money from parents.
111 of the 202 pupils, according to a report from the county assembly committee, are enrolled at Tampere University, 25 are at Jyvaskyla University, and 66 are at Laurea University.
The county government recently disclosed that an additional 384 students have enrolled in different classes in Finland through the same program.
During a press briefing yesterday, Governor Jonathan Bii confirmed the threats by Tampere University and disclosed that the management had declined to extend the students’ stay to enable their parents to settle their fees.
“We have 111 students pursuing degree and diploma courses at Tampere University and they had up to the end of last month to settle pending fees,” the governor said.
His deputy, John Barorot, said that degree students are each required to pay €5,000 while their diploma counterparts pay €4,000.
“We are working round the clock to assist parents to pay the fees,” said Mr Barorot, noting that the county government has approached some financial institutions to offer loans to parents.
“Payment of fees for the second semester is due on March 31, while the deadline for fee payment for students at Tampere University has lapsed,” disclosed Mr Bii.
Between September 2021 and September 2022, the first batch of the aforementioned students departed Kenya. Despite expressing readiness to continue the program and distancing his administration from the mess, Mr. Bii described it as beneficial for the county despite the difficult problems it is currently dealing with.
He urged the parents of the impacted pupils to pay the tuition for their kids in accordance with other stakeholders’ agreements.
