Parents of Jkuat students are protesting the imposition of the institution's laptops in the ongoing intake.
The parents accused Jkuat management of using the laptops to siphon money from their pockets.
"The management is planning to tap cash from parents by insisting
that we must buy their laptops even if we already have them. They are taking advantage of the fact that we are desperate to have our children admitted but we won’t allow their dishonest deal to succeed,” said Atoo Juma.
They argued that the issue of having the Taifa laptops as a requirement for admission was not a requirement in the official admission letter.
Jkuat is selling the laptops at Sh41,500 and parents argue that the price has been hiked.
They also said they have reports from former students that the laptops are not durable.
“We’ve been told that these laptops are developing complications after not more than eight months. We think that JKUAT has totally failed in marketing their product and they are taking advantage of the new students to release their stock,” Juma said.
Another parent Ann Gakuru, whose son is being admitted to pursue a degree in procurement, said that she purchased his son’s laptop last week for Sh57,000.
Gakuru said that she was not aware of what the institution had in store for new students adding that she was just preparing herself to have her son enrolled without hitches.
“They should have told us in advance before we bought ours. I am a single mother and I struggled a lot to get the money to buy the laptop and it pains me a lot to see that the institution is forcing us to buy their laptops despite having ours,” Gakuru said.
She argued that the price for the Taifa laptops is not competitive in the market making it hard for parents to embrace it.
A parent shows a laptop she bought for her son who's joining Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, August 22, 2016 /JOHN KAMAU
The parents accused the institution’s management of being too greedy for money.
“They have given us two different bank accounts one for school fees and another for the laptop fees. This is totally illegal,” another parent shouted.
“We’ve been here for close to five days waiting for our children to be admitted but the institution want us to part with Sh22,000 as deposit for the laptops so that they can take in our children,” lamented Josiah Mbugua a parent.
But DVC academic affairs Romanus Odhiambo quashed the allegations saying that parents are not being forced to buy the laptops.
Odhiambo said that most students do not have laptops, hence the decision by the institution’s top management to sell the laptops to students since most of the courses are technology-based.
He said that the students will be allowed to pay for the laptops in installments.
“We are not imposing our laptops to students and parents. This is a university for technology and every student is required to have a laptop on admission,” Odhiambo said.
He argued that the ‘mitumba’ laptops being bought by parents cannot accommodate some programmes and software used in learning in various courses.
“Again this is our project of buy Kenya build Kenya and all parents should start to accept and practice the concept of using locally manufactured items like our laptops,” he said.
But he said that the Senate, led by Vice Chancellor Mabel Imbuga, will convene a meeting and make a decision on what to do with those who have their own laptops.
Parents now want Education CS Fred Matiang'í to intervene and solve the impasse, saying that what the university administration is doing is illegal.
They said they are being forced to sign documents to commit them to pay for the laptops in future.
A stranded parent with his children at Jkuat on Monday, August 22, 2016. The ongoing intake halted as parents protested the institution's move to force them to buy their Taifa laptops /JOHN KAMAU
“It would also have been easier if they told us what programmes or software they want us to install instead of forcing to buy their laptops,” another parent said.
The university is enrolling 11,000 students.