The ongoing lecturers’ strike is not being treated with the urgency it deserves, despite its disastrous impact on the academic calendar.
While students who joined private universities are about to complete their courses and sit their final exams, their counterparts in public universities face a dismal introduction to higher education.
The excitement and motivation that came with their hard-won university admission have been swept away by the dark cloud of delayed academic progression. I can bet some had not even been introduced to all their courses, nor had they glimpsed their assigned lecturers by the time the strike was announced.
Yet, the striking lecturers seemingly have legitimate grievances that should have been addressed long before the strike. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that necessitated the strike is not a new document.
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The government has previously committed to it. According to Treasury CS John Mbadi, the money that could have addressed the current impasse was already released. To a tune of Sh4.3 billion.
The challenge as Mr Mbadi argues seems to lie somewhere between the Ministry of Education and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). University union officials have consequently accused SRC of overstepping its mandate by imposing ceilings and ultimatums that have stalled the process.
However, if the money has truly been availed, as the Treasury claims, this matter should have been simple to resolve, rather than causing so much suffering to students and the lecturers. This first semester will likely spill over into new year, and even further, if the stalemate continues.
This is not something the students would desire because it is a loss of time and money. Apart from a disrupted academic calendar, students still have to contend with ongoing expenses such as rent and food.
Students relying on the Higher Education Financing Loans are depleting their funds with nothing to show for it academically. All they can do is watch from a distance as their lecturers dance in protest to secure their pay.
The lecturers and other university workers have a right to what was signed and agreed upon. After all, these lecturers witness senior government officials, including the President and his Deputy, dishing out money at fundraisers and empowerment programmes.
Yet, the CBA in question is four years overdue. It is so late that lecturers are now simultaneously demanding its implementation while also needing to negotiate a new one.
In many institutions, university workers are not just dealing with salary issues but also the collapse of their medical and pension schemes. For some, collapsing SACCOs have compounded these financial challenges.
This is a tragic state of affairs, given their dignified role in society. Their welfare should be handled transparently and with integrity. University dons are, and must remain, the pillars of an advancing society.
Similarly, university students must not be burdened by bureaucracies and inefficiencies in government institutions. Their dreams and aspirations must remain valid, even in the current state of depleted opportunities. It is time to sort this out.
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By Mike Nyagwoka