Mombasa, KENYA: As the Technical University of Mombasa marked its 5th graduation, key occurrences in the education sector would not be left out in the speeches of key speakers who took the podium to congratulate 2,043 graduates from the university.
TUM Vice-chancellor Professor Leila Abubakar on Thursday addressed the issue of university lecturers strike blaming the University Academic Staff Union for being unfair and their strikes unhelpful.
She said that UASU has continuously gone on strike even when the disputes are being handled and are being processed by the Ministry of Education.
“The strikes have greatly affected both the university and the students whereby their academic calendar is longer guaranteed while the university has lost revenue by missing out on some of the intakes.” Said Prof.Abubakar.
She added that the university revenue collection has dropped from an expected sh 270 million to 114 million in the current semester.
In her message from the Ministry of Education to the graduates, Deputy director of Education Rebecca Kalanyi also condemned the continuous strike, terming it as a disruption that wastes a lot of time and resources.
Kalanyi further reiterated that the Ministry was looking for an amicable solution as she insisted on the need to partner with universities outside the country in order to enrich culture and diversity and growth.
Also in attendance was Mombasa Senator Faki Mohamed and deputy governor William Kingi.
The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) strike, the third this year, will be entering its second month as from tomorrow.
The strike commenced on November 1 when lecturers in all public universities across the country downed their tools protesting the Government’s failure to honour a 2013-2017 Comprehensive Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Meanwhile, UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga has refuted claims that the Government has spent Ksh. 5.2 billion in the current fiscal year to resolve the current Collective Bargaining Agreement impasse.
He maintains that they will remain on strike until the Government releases Ksh. 5.2 billion to cater for the increase.
