Students in colleges and universities in Kenya are facing a crisis following the suspension of physical learning as a result of the Covid-19 fiasco.

Although most universities and colleges have moved to online learning, some are still struggling to offer online examinations while others have not had their programmes accredited by the Commission for University Education (CUE).

Some students in remote areas have also been unable to access online lessons due to poor internet connection. This has caused thousands of students to lag behind in their studies while others have failed to graduate on time.

This is despite universities conducting virtual graduations.

At the University of Nairobi (UoN), which normally holds two graduation ceremonies every year, most students did not complete their studies on schedule.

The UoN Head of Communication, John Orindi, in an interview said the university graduated only 2,851 students in September instead of the usual 5,000 in the previous years. The number of those who graduated in December also dropped from 10,000 to 5,010 students.

He said in November, the Institution brought in only first yea students to give them an experience of campus life and reverted to online classes.

Other universities such as Kenyatta, Moi, Chuka, Technical University of Kenya, Meru University of Science and Technology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology among others also brought in first years but their learning was interrupted by the March lockdown.

Every school in England will be able to access a share of almost £1.8 billion this year to help keep their buildings in the best possible condition.

The annual allocations provided to maintain school buildings will increase by over 20% to £1.8 billion this financial year, helping deliver the government’s commitment to build back better from the pandemic.

This comes on top of the one-off funding injection of £560 million announced by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, last year, making sure the condition of school buildings does not hold any child back from achieving their potential.

The first wave of the School Rebuilding Programme announced last year is also on track, with site inspections and detailed planning work with the 50 schools involved meaning the first rebuild projects will start from this autumn.

Schools Minister Baroness Berridge said she knew teachers and heads were spending every hour of the working day thinking about how they can make sure the students at their schools recover from the impact of the pandemic, and making sure all children and staff remain safe following the welcome return to face to face teaching.

She said “Alongside our ambitious rebuilding programme for the schools in the worst condition, this government is making sure every school has the investment and financial support it needs to build back better for its students”.

Local authorities, larger multi-academy trusts and Voluntary Aided school bodies, such as dioceses, have been allocated condition funding in accordance with the latest data on their estates.

Smaller academy trusts and sixth form colleges have been able to submit bids to the department for funding through the Condition Improvement Fund process, so those that have essential maintenance needs do not lose out. In addition, all schools have been allocated individual funding in accordance with their size.

Further details about the School Rebuilding Programme will be set out later in 2021. Projects will range from replacing or refurbishing individual buildings through to whole school rebuilds.

The department also plans to consult this year to gather views on how schools are prioritised for future rounds of the long-term programme, including how evidence about schools’ condition need may be provided to support prioritisation.

The Ministry of Education (MED) and the National Union of Teachers (SINPROF) in Angola have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to suspend the general strike, that would begin on 26 April.

Also part of the MoU was the promotion of at least 181,000 education employees during the period going from May 2021 – January 2023.

Under the terms of the Memorandum, the parties agreed to re-review the demands presented on 23 October 2019.

The demands include the update and enhancing of categories of the 181,624 education members, in the period running from May 2021 – January 2023.

The parties also agreed on working on other points of the claim book until its full implementation.
High on the agenda of the claim book is the full time of service of all teachers.

According to the document, the first bulk, comprising 105,000 teachers, will be promoted until 2022 and benefit from financial adjustment, based on the employment period.

The minister of Education, Luísa Grilo, argued that the process of promoting teachers should not be seen as a requirement, but a right.

Schools in Northern Ireland will be legally required to record all incidents of bullying and alleged bullying from 1 September.

They will also have to keep records of the motivation behind the bullying, the method involved and how the incident was dealt with.

That is according to guidance to schools from the Department of Education on new anti-bullying laws, which law also provides a legal definition of bullying in schools.

Schools, however, have been told to avoid using terms like “bully” and “victim”.

The guidance states that it is important to avoid labelling individual pupils and instead to describe the pupil’s behaviours.

“Instead of the term ‘bully’ it is recommended that ‘pupil displaying bullying behaviour’ is used and instead of the term ‘victim’ it is recommended that ‘target’ or ‘pupil experiencing bullying behaviour’ is used.”

An anti-bullying bill was first introduced by former Education Minister John O’Dowd in 2015.

However although the bill received royal assent in 2016 it will only finally come into effect for schools on 1 September.

That is following a commencement order from Department of Education (DE).

In the Addressing Bullying in Schools Act, bullying is defined as the repeated use of “any verbal, or electronic communication, any other act or any combination of those by a pupil or group of pupils against another pupil or group of pupils”.

There also has to be “the intention of causing physical or emotional harm to that pupil or group of pupils”.

Cyber-bullying is covered by the act, but schools do not have a legal duty to deal with cyber-bullying which takes place outside school.

The act gives schools the explicit power to take action to prevent cyber bullying which is taking place outside school, but which is likely to have an impact on the pupil’s education in school,” the DE guidance said.

“While this gives schools the option to take action, it does not place a duty on schools to do so.”

It is also up to a school to decide if a “one-off” incident should be treated as bullying.

A school’s governors also have to ensure a record is kept of all alleged bullying incidents.

The school has to record the motivation behind the bullying and how it was dealt with.

Motivations behind bullying can include things like a pupil’s age, appearance, community background, political views, race, religion, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation.

Education Minister Peter Weir said that the new laws would bring greater consistency across schools in the treatment of all forms of bullying.

The School of Business in Amsterdam University, Netherlands, has come under criticism for “devaluing” bachelor degrees from Africa, apart from South Africa and Ghana.

The school recently said a Bachelor’s degree from an African country “is not enough to secure admissions for its Master’s degree programme”.

For eligibility, applicants with an African bachelor’s degree (except for South-Africa and Ghana) will need a bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in the field of economics and business, an information on its web page read.

“Information for students with an African bachelor’s degree. An African bachelor’s degree is generally the equivalent of 2 years of academic education in the Netherlands.”

The controversial requirement has been tagged discriminatory and an attempt to undermine the capabilities and potentials of Africans in academics.

A Nigerian and former assistant professor at the university, Michael Eze, described the usage of “African Degree” as an abuse of the African pedigree.

An assistant professor in international relations and conflict resolution and governance in Amsterdam University, Polly Pallister-Wilkins, also called out the school on Twitter.

However, Marja Meer, a spokesperson of the school said that the information on the school’s website was incorrect, then apologised for the ‘inaccuracies’.

“Thank you for bringing to our attention that there are inaccuracies on our master’s programme website. The information that is currently there, is indeed incorrect. We deeply regret this and will amend it as soon as possible,” Ms Meer said in response to the email enquiry.

Meanwhile, in the amended version of the information on its website, the school gave an explanation on how a bachelor’s degree obtained in certain African countries differs but did not rescind its earlier stance.

The only difference, when compared to the previous post, is that the school failed to name specific African countries whose Bachelor’s degrees guarantee a direct entry to its programme.

While it explained the major difference between the Dutch system of higher education and other international systems of higher education, it was silent on the superiority of some “African degrees”.

“The most important difference is that in the Netherlands we uphold a difference between a university of applied sciences and a research university, like the University of Amsterdam.

“In order to be eligible for an academic master’s degree at our research university (the majority are one-year Master programmes), all students, both Dutch and international, need to have completed an academic bachelor’s degree from a research university.

“In general, although this differs per country, a bachelor’s degree obtained in certain countries on the African continent does give direct entry to a programme at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science.

“However, depending per country, a completed bachelor’s degree (with the exception of some countries where they offer 5- or 6- year bachelor’s degrees) does not give direct entry to one of our academic Master programmes at our research university. Usually, an additional completed master’s degree in the field of economics and/or business is needed for direct entry,” it said.

For further clarifications, the school advised prospective applicants “to consult the country specific details on Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education in the Netherlands”.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate allegations that $30 million safe school fund was missing or diverted and bring to justice anyone suspected to be involved, as well as recover any missing money.

SERAP’s appeal came on the heels of the killing of three abducted Greenfield University students, and the plan launched by the Federal Government last week to raise additional funds for safe schools.

In the letter signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said rather than pushing to raise more funds for the Safe School Initiative, the government should prioritise and ensure a thorough investigation into the spending of the $30million initially budgeted for the protection of schools, prevention of attacks, and continued education of students.

SERAP said it was also considering asking United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown to use his influence to insist on transparency and accountability in the spending of the $30million safe school fund before rushing to engage donors to commit to additional funding of the Safe School Initiative programme.

The letter read in part: “Despite the $30million safe school fund meant to ensure safety and security in 500 schools, and to provide a school environment free of fear, no school has been protected, as illustrated by the recent spate of abductions and killings of students in several parts of the country.

“Attacks on students, teachers and their families violate constitutional and international human rights law, and force many families to keep their children at home. This aggravates existing disparities in access to education, further marginalising the poor.

“The government’s apparent inability to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of the $30million safe school fund is contrary to the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], and violates Nigeria’s obligations under international law and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.’