We’ll not defend you, Uasu tells lecturers awarding higher marks for sexual favours

Lecturers awarding higher marks to students in exchange for sexual favours will not be protected by the union, an official of the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) has warned.

Uasu Secretary-General Muga K’Olale said “the union shall stand for the truth”.

“The union shall not defend any lecturer when there is sufficient evidence showing that he/she is involved in a romantic relationship with a student,” said Dr K’Olale.

He added that when such accusations are made without supporting evidence the union will defend its members.

He was speaking during the union’s delegates’ conference, in Mombasa.

Meanwhile, Pwani University Vice-Chancellor Mohamed Rajab has asked universities to improve the “poor quality of graduates” to boost the chances of their students securing employment.

Prof Rajab said graduates who do not have entrepreneurial skills can’t create jobs, and will therefore find it hard to thrive in the competitive job environment.

He attributed the problem of “half-baked” graduates to the use of outdated syllabuses which he said need to be reviewed by tailoring it to conform to industry requirements.

“There should be in place a system of continuous review of what we teach and how we teach. Staff members who only teach but do not research have no place in a university if we are to uphold excellence and quality of teaching and learning,” said Prof Rajab.

He urged public universities to operate like private firms by being innovative, efficient, proactive and commercially oriented in order to respond to the current labour market requirements.