Kenya-Finland Study Program Turns into Nightmare for Depressed Students.
Recently, a Kenyan student by the name of Rodgers Kipruto who was studying nursing at Laurea University in Finland committed suicide. This incident has brought to light the plights of Kenyan students who enrolled in a controversial study programme organized by the Uasin Gishu government.
Plight of Kenyan Students in Finland
Rodgers, like many other Kenyan students in Finland, was struggling due to financial constraints and pressure to meet their daily obligations. The difficult times that he was experiencing had prompted him to plan his return to Kenya in January or February. However, friends discouraged him from returning home, which led him to cancel his plan.
Many students who are part of the programme have reported feeling severely depressed due to financial constraints and the pressure to meet their daily obligations. Some students in the Kenya-Finland Study Program were promised that they would be employed as nurses. Some were promised that their studies would take a year have complained that they were deceived.
Most of them regret leaving their jobs in Kenya to pursue their dreams of greener pastures in Finland, only to end up suffering in a foreign land. According to Rodgers’ family, he had complained about the hardships in the foreign land before his death. Rodgers had left Kenya for the foreign country in October 2022 after quitting his job at a level five hospital in Nakuru. The news of his death came as a shock to his family and friends.
Controversial Study Programme
The controversial study programme agreement between the Uasin Gishu County government and the universities of Laurea, Jyvaskylla and Tampere has come under scrutiny, with the county assembly initiating several actions against those involved. The programme was launched during the administration of former Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago, who has remained silent on the controversy.
The tragic death of Rodgers has confirmed the fears of the suffering Kenyan students who are trying to make a living in a foreign country. Students have revealed that although studies have resumed after being suspended for two weeks due to fee arrears, life in a foreign country is not easy.
Most of them have to rely on support from home to keep going, which is against the expectation that they would study and work at the same time, with a guarantee of stable employment at the end of their courses.
Broken Promises and Financial Struggles
Once in Finland, students on the programme were promised to study and work, with the successful ones guaranteed stable employment upon completion of their courses. Unfortunately, the promised life-changing opportunity has not been fulfilled for many of the students.
It has been reported that Rodgers had been depressed and unwell since October last year. Some of his friends had planned to return to Kenya with him, but they persuaded him to cancel his flight. Although he had support from Kenyan friends at the university and family back home, he was at his lowest point because of the high expectations he had when he joined the university.
The incident has highlighted the importance of mental health support for Kenyan students in foreign countries. They sold land, property and took out loans to pay for the course that the Finnish government offered. They were promised to complete the course in one year, only to arrive and find out that it would take two and a half years.
Stranded Abroad due to Fee Arrears
Although the county government paid the fees for the first semester and accommodation for four months, the students had paid a fee for a whole year and six months of accommodation. As a result, the students have accumulated significant debt, and the Finnish universities have suspended some students for fee arrears, leaving them at risk of deportation.
Parents interviewed revealed how they have struggled to pay more than a million shillings for their children to study in Finland, and some have even sold property to meet their financial obligations. The students complain that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other state agencies have failed to address their plight despite previous visits by officials.
The Kenyan students became stranded abroad due to fee arrears, causing controversy to engulf the Finnish airlift programme. County officials were supposed to settle the fees by receiving transfers from parents through a government account, with the devolved unit serving as guarantor. However, the programme was marred by issues that prevented the timely settlement of fees, resulting in the students being left in limbo.
Allegations of Scam and Corruption
Unfortunately, the Finnish government failed to fulfil its promise to the Kenyan students, leaving them in a precarious financial situation.
In yet another incident, Uasin Gishu County government officials have allegedly implicated themselves in a scam concerning the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust Account. Governor Jonathan Bii has taken action and ordered the suspension of senior officials involved in the scam.
In addition to announcing measures aimed at rescuing students facing deportation due to fee arrears, he has also taken action to investigate the managers of the Overseas Education Account for their involvement in forgery, abuse of office, and lack of integrity, as recommended by a County Assembly ad-hoc committee.
Investigation and Forensic Audit by EACC
The EACC has since launched investigations into the alleged loss of Sh800 million in the Finnish Airlift scandal, as parents of students facing deportation over fee arrears demanded their money back from the county government.
The agency’s report exposes that a whopping sum of Sh837,855,889.76 had been deposited into the account between August 2021 and March 2022 to enable the enrollment of 111 students in degree and diploma courses at various European universities and colleges. However, the three signatories withdrew Sh38,533,789.00 from the foreign account, intending to transfer the funds to Tampere University of Applied Sciences, but allegedly misappropriated the money.
The EACC is actively and meticulously investigating to establish whether the funds were wrongfully diverted or reached the intended institutions.
Governor Jonathan Bii has ordered the officials involved in the loss of funds to step aside to allow EACC investigators to conduct a forensic audit and take action against those responsible for the mess.
The investigations into the alleged loss of funds meant to fly 202 students to three Finnish universities are ongoing.Parents want a refund for their children’s deportation due to unpaid fees. Mismanaged funds have left the Kenya-Finland Study Program students stranded abroad. They also riski their academic future. Urgent action needed to prevent further losses and help affected students.
Kenya-Finland Study Program Turns into Nightmare for Depressed Students.
