First Years at the University of Nairobi have been given two weeks for courses transfer beginning August 30, offering the new learners another chance to make it to their dream professions.
During the Vice-Chancellor’s Address at the university’s iconic Taifa Hall at the Main Campus, Prof Ayub Gitau said the intra- and inter-faculty movements will end on September 30.
The VC, however, reiterated that the transfers will be within the guidelines drawn by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Placement Service (KUCCPS), pointing out that “there are standards set by the government”.
KUCCPS placement of Form Four graduates to higher education programmes starts after the release of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results. Once the provisional placement results are released, the applicants get a chance to revise choices followed by transfers to courses and institutions based on availability of slots.
Traditionally, medical courses such as medicine, pharmacy and nursing have given candidates, schools and families sleepless nights as the marketable programmes, forcing KUCCPS and other career mentors to ask them to think about life outside medicine, law, engineering and education.
Under Kenya’s Competence-based Education (CBE), the government has grouped the careers into sciences & mathematics (STEM), social sciences and sports in a move aimed at nurturing talents as opposed to the craze of ‘marketable courses’.
Across universities, First Years will be reporting until the first week of next month followed by course transfers at slightly more favourable grades and points, allowing learners a toe-hold into their dream careers.
During his address on Thursday, Prof Gitau, who was recently installed at the University of Nairobi to replace Prof Gitahi Kiama, told the Freshers they would be learning how to be inquisitive and also appreciate evidence as opposed to opinion.
He warned the learners that the pace of disruption, aided by the ever-changing technology, required students who know how to use tech well, saying “human judgment” was the “most valued asset”, warning them against the dangers of following AI, Internet of Things and Big Data blindly.
Prof Gitau said the world was spinning so fast that by the time the new students would be graduating their professions would have changed, ushering the best people into the space of continuous learning.
The VC told the learners that university life “is beyond the [lecture] timetables” but cover important areas such as friendships that last a lifetime, new talents, failures and struggles.
He told them that the university was a community whose members are celebrated when they do well and lifted up at times of struggles, and urged the Freshers to “ask for help and assistance”.
To thrive as a budding scholar, Prof Gitau asked the students to appreciate making own decisions, valuing honest work, learning how to “handle freedom responsibly” and eventually earning degrees honestly through academic integrity.
