Scholarship scam: Finland varsity threatens to kick out students

More than 100 students from Uasin Gishu County studying at Tampere University in Finland face deportation due to non-payment of fees. The university’s administration has given the students up to the end of this week to settle their fee balances or have their studies discontinued and be sent back home.

The county government is on the spot over the non-payment of fees even after collecting funds from parents.

A report from the county assembly committee shows that 111 of the 202 students are at Tampere University, 25 at Jyvaskyla University and 66 at Laurea University are affected. This comes as the county government revealed that a further 384 students have been enrolled for various courses in Finland under the same programme.

During a press briefing yesterday, Governor Jonathan Bii confirmed the threats by Tampere University and disclosed that the management had declined to extend the students’ stay to enable their parents to settle their fees.

“We have 111 students pursuing degree and diploma courses at Tampere University and they had up to the end of last month to settle pending fees,” the governor said.

His deputy, John Barorot, said that degree students are each required to pay €5,000 while their diploma counterparts pay €4,000.

Pay the fees

“We are working round the clock to assist parents to pay the fees,” said Mr Barorot, noting that the county government has approached some financial institutions to offer loans to parents.

“Payment of fees for the second semester is due on March 31, while the deadline for fee payment for students at Tampere University has lapsed,” disclosed Mr Bii.

The first group of the said students left Kenya between September 2021 and September 2022. Mr Bii distanced his administration from the mess, even as he expressed willingness to have the programme continued, terming it good for the county despite the thorny issues facing it. He appealed to parents of the affected students to pay the fees for their children as agreed with other stakeholders.

According to Mr Bii, plans are at an advanced stage for the additional 384 students to join their colleagues in Finland. The group has completed its first semester online and already obtained visas to study at Laurea University.

The governor said the programme was being managed independently of the devolved unit.

“The program was run independently of the county government by a trust and no public funds were used to fund it, and as a county, we have no plans to fund the programme,” said Mr Bii.

Scholarship

The county government, under former Governor Jackson Mandago, had acted as guarantors to enable the students to pursue studies and work in Finland, but parents were expected to pay fees for their children.

“The offer is not a scholarship but parents have to meet the education fees of their children. The role of the county government was purely to act as guarantor,” explained Mr Barorot yesterday.

An ad-hoc committee of the Uasin Gishu County Assembly formed in early February to investigate the programme recommended that similar programmes by the county government be put on hold until proper guidelines are put in place.

“The County Assembly is aware that the County Executive has similar engagements with other countries like Canada. We advise that those engagements be suspended until proper policy/ framework is established,” recommended the committee.