High Court allows 77 students enrolled irregularly to graduate

What you need to know:

  • “It is unfair not to allow the petitioners to graduate on the basis that they were admitted without meeting the qualifications five years ago,” he said, adding that “the issue ought to have been raised during admission for their first semester degree courses”.

  • “Some of the students were admitted with a D+ in mathematics and a diploma, yet joined second year and third year degree engineering courses. Others had diplomas that were unrelated to  civil, mechanical and electrical engineering,” said Justice Emukule.

  • The students moved to court early this year to challenge the decision by the two educational institutions to stop them from graduating and withholding their fifth year transcripts on the grounds of irregular admission.

Seventy-seven students who were irregularly admitted to the Technical University of Mombasa to pursue engineering courses have been allowed to graduate by the High Court.

Justice Anyara Emukule directed the students graduate at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) on Friday.

“It is unfair not to allow the petitioners to graduate on the basis that they were admitted without meeting the qualifications five years ago,” he said, adding that “the issue ought to have been raised during admission for their first semester degree courses”.

He, however, said six out of the 83 applicants will not graduate on the basis of incomplete attachments, supplementary examinations and disciplinary cases.

The judge said JKUAT and Technical University had blocked the students from graduating over failure to meet the engineering qualification requirements.

IRREGULAR ADMISSION

“Some of the students were admitted with a D+ in mathematics and a diploma, yet joined second year and third year degree engineering courses. Others had diplomas that were unrelated to civil, mechanical and electrical engineering,” said Justice Emukule.

The students moved to court early this year to challenge the decision by the two educational institutions to stop them from graduating and withholding their fifth year transcripts on the grounds of irregular admission.

Through their lawyer David Chamwada, the students said JKuat and its constituent college, the Mombasa Polytechnic University, now a fully fledged university (TUM), unlawfully locked them out of graduation last year.

Mr Chamwada had argued that the courses were advertised, and the students applied. He said they were admitted after the university certified that they had qualified to pursue the courses.

He asked the court to make sure the students are not discriminated against over the university’s own error.

“The irregularity in admission was not the students’ making and the students should be allowed to graduate at JKuat,” he said.