For most students, securing a chance at an institution of higher learning is a gateway to a world of limitless opportunities.
Graduating is the pinnacle of their academic sojourn. The attainment of that level defines their place in the professional world.
Though career earnings depend on many factors in addition to one’s educational level, a 2021 study by the Georgetown University Centre shows that workers with a high level of education earn more than those with just secondary school certificates.
Yet, on that roadmap to attaining a degree, one thing could stall a student’s dreams – missing marks.
While some have adopted measures to address the issue, hundreds of students are still missing marks, long after their scheduled graduation dates.
Higher Education has observed a complex interplay between personal mistakes, institutional challenges and officials reluctant to provide a solution to the affected learners.
Future careers of these students hang on the difference between a first, second class, pass and fail.
Students use the term 'missing marks' to cover their mistakes
“Most public universities like KU have systems that capture procedures from admissions to certification. The system is automated such that when the student pays tuition fee, it automatically opens, allowing him or her to register. However, some learners fail to register within the specified time. There is also the issue of students making mistakes on their admission numbers, so lecturers end up not posting marks.
Others sit their exams before registering, making the results null and void. I actually would not say it is an issue of missing marks, but unposted results
The complaining students should direct their concerns to the academic registrar because some members of staff are ignorant of the procedures.
Some students are not truthful. I, for instance, handled a case in which a parent was complaining that his daughter’s graduation was being delayed, only to find out that she had not done more than 10 units.
Paying price of missing marks
John Macharia.
Photo credit: Pool
“I am in a very bad state financially and psychologically. Have I not paid enough for my mistake?” Macharia asks in desperation.
In 2016, the now 27-year-old Bachelor of Education Student at Karatina University missed a continuous assessment test in the second semester of his first year of study.
“I can’t tell why I missed the 15-mark CAT. I have no tangible explanation,” he says.
“It wasn’t until my third year that the results of the previous years were released. That is how I found out that one of my units was incomplete,” he says.
As his graduation loomed, there was no discernible solution.
“I have been going back to the university for three years. I get the same answer all the time: ‘Go and sort it out with your lecturer’. I don’t remember his name or know his whereabouts,” Macharia says.
“I have sunk to a level I should never be just because I have no university certificate. That is why I am stuck here. Without it, my chances of being hired by the government are limited,” Macharia says.
“Most of my peers have been hired by the Teachers Service Commission. I hope the university will allow me to resit the examination.”
I sat all examinations but marks are still missing
Kevin Luseno.
Photo credit: Pool
Luseno was crushed when his coursemates started picking their graduation gowns in 2019. The graduation would have marked the end of his long academic journey.
“I joined Moi University in 2013 but deferred my studies a year later due to financial difficulties,” he said.
By then, the institution had adopted a system that allowed students to check their marks.
Luseno said he made follow-ups and even re-sat some of the examinations but the marks still were not updated in the university system.
“Some lecturers even refused to pick up my calls or hang up immediately they recognised my voice,” Luseno told these writers.
“Every school that I apply to demands to see my university certificate. I work for a school that employed me on temporary terms. The more years I take to graduate, the more I am approaching the retirement age,” Luseno says.
After Higher Education reached out to the institution regarding this case, the marks were uploaded on the students’ portal and Luseno expects to earn his degree this year.
Don's mistake has delayed my graduation
Kelvin Koech joined Technical University of Kenya in 2017 for a Bachelor of Information Technology course. He was to graduate in December last year. Koech says a lecturer’s mistake saw him miss out in the grand list of graduation.
“The supervisor I presented my project to went for a four-month break in June last year,” Koech says.
“Later, I was told the project was not submitted to the relevant authorities at the university. On inquiry, the lecturer told me and two other students that she misplaced the project. We were told to start the project afresh. It was already too late as graduation was in October.”
Some students do not even bother knowing their lecturer's name
“I have interacted with student leaders from all public universities. This matter is not unique to Moi University,” he says.
Some students do not follow up on their marks, or even care to know their lecturers’ names.
When there is a problem, solving it becomes a huge challenge.
“During my tenure as a university student leader, we have addressed the issue,” he says.
“The university management has done a lot to fight the problem. This can be eliminated by students themselves.”
“If lecturers are not cooperative and students can prove that they sat the tests, the administration is usually quick to resolve the matter.”
Unfortunately, the 2022 graduation train was already hundreds of miles away.
Constant missing mark, double marks have made me miss three graduations
Instead of ending up as a high school teacher, however, she has been learning the hard way about the intricacies of delayed graduation.
“Missing marks has been the constant issue. There were retakes at first, which I duly and faithfully sat. I missed on the graduation list in 2019 due to a missing mark. The following year, the Covid-19 pandemic led to postponement of the graduation. I calmly waited for the 2021 December graduation, but still did not make it due to a perpetual missing mark,” she says.
“In July last year, I again missed on the coveted list, all thanks to missing marks of a single unit.”
Ms Opiyo says the wait has been energy-sapping and an emotional roller-coaster. Determined to get her name on the list, she enrolled for the unit for a whole semester.
Just after completing it, something strange happened.
“The missing mark, whose course unit I paid a semester’s worth of fee in September, was miraculously found. I now have two marks for a single unit and this is not good news as the administration requires that I write a letter to have one of the marks removed in order to graduate,” she says.
Her hopes of finally making it to the graduation list this year are vested on the deletion of more marks, which originally were missing. If that does not happen, her stay at KU will be lengthened.
She has avoided going home for years as parents, relatives and friends want to see her in graduation robes.
The jobs she comes across require a degree certificate. She now hustles like a secondary school leaver.
“I almost sank into depression on witnessing my coursemates graduate and secure jobs or enrol for graduate studies. There are many other students in the same boat. I blame the School of Education’s systems and the exam coordinator,” she says.
Deferring studies, lecturer's complacency keep extending my stay at Kisii University
“I joined the university in 2015 and was supposed to graduate in 2019. My name has never been on the graduation list,” Mwende says.
“I deferred my studies a couple of semesters due to financial problems but made sure I got back and did all the required units. The problem has been with lecturers.”
“The lecturer is in Mombasa on vacation or abroad for studies. Getting such a teacher is difficult. The problem mostly is with part-time lecturers,” Mwende says.
“Some lecturers do not upload results for the continuous assessment tests and end up blaming students.”
The university administration, Mwende says, has done little to resolve the problem. She is always on a lecturer’s case every semester.
Mwende believes her marks are never posted due to the two deferments in her second and third years of study.
At the moment, marks for two units are missing.
