Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology was forced to cancel the end of year examinations after a blunder that affected many of their students.
According to an internal memo sent to students, the university's academic affairs desk realised that the exams were duplicated from the previous year’s questions.
“There was 100% duplication of the previous immediate year examinations. Consequently, alternative moderated examinations in the affected courses should be administered as soon as possible upon liaising with the relevant offices,” the memo signed by Acting Academic Affairs Registrar Thomas Sakwa.
The affected students were from the School of Business and Economics, School of Agriculture, Veterinary Services and Technology and the School of Disaster Management.
When reached for comment by the media, acting Vice-Chancellor Solomon Shibairo stated that the matter should have been handled internally without involving the media.
“Tell those students to come and see me as their father and see how we can help each other,” he stated.
He, however, noted that the Academic Affairs Registrar was within his right to cancel the exams on the account that they were duplicated.
The Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted learning in universities but many of the higher education institutions found ways of forging ahead through online learning.
Newly adopted technology helped students catch up without having to severely alter their academic calendars.
The University of Nairobi, for example, was still able to conduct its 64th Graduation Ceremony in December as planned.
The students were able to sit for the institution’s first-ever virtual examinations in May.
“We used Google platforms to administer our exams-first we invited our students to Google Classroom so that we are able to see all of them and then we used Google Meet to monitor or invigilate the process,” said Dr. Collins Odote, the Director, Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP).
