When the marks go missing: The nightmare of delayed graduation in Kenyan universities

This can jeopardise your chances of graduating, particularly if the (mostly) part-time lecturer who taught the course is unreachable or unhelpful. Some lecturers are known to delay grading as a way of extorting bribes from students.

As a result, many students find themselves missing out on graduation, or even internships and job offers despite having completed their coursework and exams on time. This unfortunate scenario is all too common in Kenyan colleges and universities, with numerous complaints surfacing every year.

Fredrick Makinda, 30
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University
I was admitted to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University in 2013 to pursue a Business Administration degree with IT (finance option). I dedicated myself to my studies, completing every assignment, test, and exam on time, with all exam cards signed by lecturers.

However, just days before graduation, I found my name missing from the list due to six missing marks, including one for my attachment at the Kenya Revenue Authority, where I received a stellar recommendation.

Determined to resolve the issue, I began tracking down lecturers, only to discover how difficult it was to find their contacts. One lecturer claimed I hadn’t taken the exam, despite signing my card. Another part-time lecturer shockingly asked me to send him three months of his salary in exchange for my marks. Another lecturer asked me to re-do a first-year exam in his office on the spot. I had forgotten most of the concepts, and I felt he should have given me time to prepare.

In another case, a lecturer promised a makeup test but forgot and went to a wedding on the scheduled day. To make matters worse, I learned that one of the lecturers responsible for my missing marks had passed away during my second year.

I repeatedly visited the dean’s office, but no action was taken. The academic registrar was absent, and I was told I would have to wait another year to re-sit for the course. Desperate, I sought help from my uncle, a dean at Egerton University, who intervened.

My name was finally added to the graduation list, but all my missing marks were graded as Ds. This included basic courses like Communication Skills, HIV/Aids, and Introduction to Computers, despite earning As in complex subjects like accounting.

This unfair grading hugely impacted my average scores, and I missed out on a Second-Class Upper Division grade by just one point. The experience shattered my dream of pursuing a Master’s degree abroad, and it has since affected my ability to secure employment.

The frustration from this ordeal has even led me to reconsider my academic path, and I’ve decided to return to school to pursue a new and different course. Although the experience has been extremely frustrating and hurtful, I am motivated to overcome the setbacks and rebuild my future.

*George Kamau, 25
Student at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology
I studied at Masinde Muliro University, and the last four months before my graduation were filled with stress.

When I went to my department to have my transcripts printed, I was told that the provisional transcripts were incomplete because some Continuous Assessment Test (CAT) marks from my first year were missing. This meant I had to find the lecturer who had taught me those units, which was a dreadful process. I asked around and was told that some of the lecturers I was looking for taught at nearby colleges in Kakamega and Bungoma. I walked long distances and took buses to institutions like Sigalagala National Polytechnic and Maseno University to look for them. 

Unfortunately, many of those lecturers were part-time staff, and by then they had either moved to other institutions or left the country to pursue further studies. When I tried reaching out via WhatsApp, most messages were met with blue ticks—no response. Some lecturers responded but denied ever having me in their classes. One part-time lecturer told me, Your face and name are not familiar. I didn’t teach you.’

Others tried to prove that I hadn’t sat for the exams, showing me performance sheets on their laptops.

“Look, your name doesn’t appear here,” they would say. One lecturer insisted that he always keeps meticulous records and would have marked my exam if I had indeed sat for it. I was speechless. I tried to explain that there may have been an error on his part, but he wasn’t willing to listen. Infact, he seemed offended by my questioning and became even more dismissive.

I had to sit for special exams the following year, which meant I couldn’t graduate with my cohort. My CAT marks were also missing, and since the lecturer was unreachable, the Chair of my Department (COD) resorted to using a mathematical formula to estimate my missing marks.

Here’s how he worked it out: If the main exam marks were available but the CAT marks were missing, the main exam score was divided by 70 and multiplied by 30 to estimate the CAT mark.

Although this formula was more reasonable than forcing me to retake the exam, not all CODs were so understanding. Many insist that students re-sit the exam regardless of the circumstances. The experience left me feeling helpless and traumatised, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I joined the university in September 2018 for a two-year diploma in public relations and creative advertising. I was supposed to graduate in December 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the graduation to August 2021. Unfortunately, I couldn’t graduate with my classmates due to the missing marks.

I’m now set to graduate in December 2024—six years after I started what was supposed to be a two-year programme. The delay wasn’t just caused by missing marks but also by the university's policy requiring a zero-fee balance to sit for exams.

Lecturers heartlessly kicked me out of exam rooms because my name didn’t appear on the nominal roll of students who had cleared their tuition fees, making me ineligible to take the exams. Thankfully, I finally cleared my fees in January this year."

Rispah Karimi, 21
Student at Pwani University
I'm a fourth year student at Pwani University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Kiswahili. The issue of missing marks and grading errors can be really frustrating.

Some students even miss their graduation or take longer to graduate. I faced this issue in my second year. I had missing marks in two units in my second year, and in one unit in first year. I was also required to re-sit one course due to a missing script, so I ended up with four missing marks.

I retook the exam, but I’m still waiting for those marks to be uploaded to the portal by the lecturer. I’ve had to run up and down the stairs of our department office, looking for one lecturer after another to upload my marks.

Sometimes you go to a lecturer, who sends you to another, and then you’re told to see the head of the department, who holds the marks. Often the head of the department sends you to yet another lecturer, which is agonising. Sometimes the system is down, and your marks can’t be updated, or worse, the lecturer may try to take advantage of you, especially if you're a female student. Some male lecturers will try to seduce you in exchange for updating your grades. The process is exhausting.

It is one of the toughest things to deal with in university life. Some students give up and wait until their final year to deal with it all at once.

As a woman, I’ve encountered this more than once. Some lecturers suggest going out or spending time together before they upload your marks. If you refuse, it becomes an even bigger problem, and you may have to wait a long time to get your marks updated. I’ve faced this kind of sexual harassment, and it’s incredibly frustrating. I sometimes wonder if I’m being targeted because I’m beautiful.

I go to the head of the department, and the marks are there, but they still don’t appear in my portal. It’s only after I escalate to the Dean that they can be added to the system. All the staff I’ve encountered in this process are men, and they often attempt to seduce me before offering any help. It’s infuriating to have to offer something in return for marks that are rightfully mine.

Many of my friends have faced similar issues. Sometimes, even when you’ve signed the exam sheet and completed the exam, your marks are nowhere to be found. The lecturer pretends not to remember you or claims you never attended class. This causes immense stress for students, leading some to defer or drop out altogether.

In cases where a lecturer was part-time staff or pursuing a Master’s degree, they may leave school before updating your marks, and tracking them down becomes almost impossible.

There’s also the issue of supplementary exams. Sometimes students fall ill and miss exams, but instead of being allowed to take a supplementary, they are given a retake, which costs money. At our school, each retake costs Sh1,000, and many students struggle to afford that. Some parents become harsh, blaming their children for skipping classes.

In some instances, marks get lost due to technical issues, or they simply disappear, leaving students in a terrible situation. This issue needs to be addressed across all universities so that students can study in peace, finish their education on time, and graduate smoothly. This has been the most difficult thing I’ve gone through on campus, and I still haven’t gotten all my marks.

Javan Bwire, 33
Author
I completed my Bachelor's degree in March 2017, but for the entire four years I was in university, I never received a single complete transcript. The reason? Missing marks. I would log into my student portal, download empty transcripts, and feel furious, but there was nothing I could do.

Each time, I would go to the department and ask for an explanation. The staff were always polite and would tell me to locate the part-time lecturers responsible for the missing marks, most of whom I hadn’t seen since the exams. I never managed to find them.

By my second year, I started writing letters to the Dean of Students asking for help. However, the Dean’s office had secretaries who were excellent at their jobs, and I doubt those letters ever made it past their desks. But at least I tried.

In my third year, some marks started to appear on my portal, although no semester ever had all the grades. Still, the sporadic appearances of grades gave me some hope. I was lucky to have only two re-sits from my first year. In one of those units, I had even been helping classmates, so I was shocked to see that I needed a re-sit.

I confronted the department and demanded to see the marks sheet because I had scored over 30 marks in the CATs. To my surprise, I found out that the grades were completely fabricated. Imagine a BA student getting a re-sit in a basic unit like Communication Skills? A week later, those fake grades were erased, and I was given A's and B's.

Fortunately, by the time I reached fourth year, they had finally completed the grading for my first and second years. So, when I left the university, I was handed two transcripts and a completion letter.

But once I left the institution, the process of updating my records stalled. I remained optimistic that the university would hire additional staff to complete the work before the November graduation, but they only managed to do so two weeks before the ceremony. By this time, I had already informed my family and friends, and was excitedly preparing for the first-ever graduation in our extended family.

I imagined walking through the village with my head held high, but just a week before graduation day, I was hit with another re-sit for my fourth year.

As a result, I missed out on graduating in 2017. I made efforts to graduate in 2018, but I couldn't because I was going through one of the most challenging times in my life. Additionally, the finance department informed me of a new fee balance. They claimed that my Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loan for my third year hadn't been reflected in their system, even though it had when I was still studying.

I downloaded several disbursement forms to prove my case, but the finance department remained unmoved. I even went to the HELB headquarters at Anniversary Towers, Nairobi, where they confirmed that the funds had been disbursed. Frustrated, I gave up and returned to my hustle because, besides graduating, I needed to pay my bills.

In 2019, after securing a small job, I decided to resolve the issue once and for all. I re-sat the required unit, cleared my balance with the finance department, and eventually graduated.

Despite having a website and social media accounts, the university preferred to communicate important information by posting it on physical notice boards. When they announced the date for certificate collection, I didn’t check the notice board and missed the date. When I went to collect my certificate two months later, I was turned away. I admitted that it was my mistake.

The second time I went to collect my certificate, they informed me that one of my forms was missing a crucial signature from the finance department.

Unfortunately, the person responsible was too busy to attend to me that day. After three more attempts in 2021, I finally managed to gather all the necessary signatures and stamps. But then I was hit with a Sh10,000 storage fee for ‘inconveniencing’ them by not collecting my certificate sooner.

Five years later, the institution is still holding my transcripts and certificate. I now owe them Sh2,500 in storage fees. Isn’t that a great business model for institutions of higher learning?

*Name has been changed to protect the identities of the interviewee.

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