As reported by Cyprian Is Nyakundi, parents of engineering students at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) are raising serious concerns about the value of education their children are receiving.
Despite paying full tuition fees, some say their children barely attend classes but still sit for exams and pass without issue. This has led to growing frustration and doubt about whether the university is still offering quality education, especially in such technical and demanding courses like engineering.
One parent who spoke to Nyakundi shared her experience, and her concerns paint a worrying picture. “Hello Nyakundi. I need to expose JKUAT University. I’m a parent of two students, one studying Civil Engineering and the other Geomatics Engineering, both second years. I pay about 170k per semester for each student that’s around 350k per sem. My concern is, this semester no one has attended class for more than 10 times. Last semester it was the same. Of course, they passed their exams but I feel like we are getting raw deal at these public universities. Should I be concerned or is it what happens in all public universities? No wonder we end up with half-baked professionals…”
This parent’s worry is not just about the financial burden. The deeper concern is whether her children are actually learning what they need to become competent professionals. In engineering, missing classes and skipping practical sessions can have serious consequences later, especially when these students graduate and begin working on real-life projects that affect public safety.
According to the same report, this is not an isolated case. Many students are allegedly going through entire semesters with less than a dozen classes, yet nothing seems to change. They sit for exams, get their results, and move to the next level as if everything is fine. This raises serious questions about what is happening behind the scenes.
Are lecturers failing to show up? Are classes being canceled without explanation? Is the university even monitoring attendance or academic engagement?These are the kinds of issues that could have long-term effects not just on the students, but on the whole country. If we are churning out engineers who haven’t received proper training, it puts everyone at risk from buildings that could collapse to roads that fall apart shortly after construction.
The blame would not just lie with the graduates, but with the institutions that failed to train them properly.At the heart of it, parents just want accountability. They want to know where their money is going and whether their children are getting the education they’ve paid for.
And in cases like this, when public complaints go unanswered, it becomes clear that something is broken in the system. JKUAT, once considered one of Kenya’s top technical universities, is now under fire, and unless the administration takes these concerns seriously, the damage may be difficult to undo.
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