Private Agency Saves 110 Kenyan Students from Deportation in Finland
110 Kenyan students who were stranded in Finland due to delayed remittance of school and accommodation fees by a trust fund run by the Uasin Gishu County government have been able to continue their education through the intervention of a private agency.
The Maxglobal Group, which has been running a similar program, signed an agreement with parents of the stranded students on Tuesday, thereby forestalling the looming deportation of students pursuing diploma and degree courses.
Under the new agreement, the parents opened an account with Standard Bank, where money would be remitted to the Finnish institutions, and Maxglobal Group became their new guarantor, taking the place of Uasin Gishu County.
The frustrated parents also requested state agencies to speed up the investigation into the program so that they can recover money held in the trust fund.
Many parents received distress calls from their children as early as September last year, but the situation worsened late last month after some institutions terminated their agreement with Uasin Gishu County after the lapse of an ultimatum issued in February.
Parents were pleased with the new arrangement, with Mary Too, a parent of a second-year student pursuing nursing at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences, stating, “As a parent, I’m now at peace because our children will not be deported. We have been asked to pay fees by May, and that is our main focus for now.”
Besides tuition and accommodation fees, each student had paid Sh150,000 to the trust fund account as an agency fee, which they can’t access now because the account is under investigation. However, parents hope that the county government will release the funds to the students soon.
More than 300 Kenyan students are studying in Finland, but only those linked by the county face challenges, according to Maxglobal CEO Cornelius Kiplagat.
Kiplagat urged leaders to stop politicizing education in foreign countries and instead push for more friendly deals. Peter Partulla, a coordinator at the Tampere Adult Education Centre, said the county linkage agreement was terminated after Uasin Gishu failed to remit tuition and accommodation fees paid by parents for nearly one academic year.
The private agency has come to the rescue of the stranded students, ensuring they can continue their studies, and the parents are grateful for their intervention.
The situation highlights the importance of timely remittance of fees to foreign universities by trust funds and the need for state agencies to speed up investigations to resolve such issues quickly.
Private Agency Saves 110 Kenyan Students from Deportation in Finland
