Students expelled from the University of Nairobi (UoN) now have a chance to appeal for pardon for the possibility to resume their studies.
The students are to fill a form provided by UoN which gives them an opportunity to give a detailed account of their situation, including how a pardon will improve their life and education.
“This is to notify all expelled UoN students that they can now submit their appeals for pardon to the Pardon Advisory Committee by completing a form provided and submitting it to pardon advisory at the university,” the university said on Thursday, October 1.
Education Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Zack Kinuthia welcomed the move, saying it is a second chance for hundreds of youth who had been suspended for various reasons over the years to redeem their lives in the academies.
He urged other universities to also take the cue, dialogue, and give the young people a chance to rewrite their future in addition to making something out of their lives.
“If this is done, we will be saving the lives of hundreds of young people who have become desperate. If they had been suspended for political reasons, examination misconduct or indiscipline I pray for a second chance and can always offer to be an arbiter as government representative,” Kinuthia said.
The CAS said he has been receiving hundreds of requests of pardon from expelled or suspended and others who dropped out of the curriculum for various reasons.
“It is almost a tragedy when a young person who is almost completing their final segment of the curriculum is dropped out of formal learning,” he noted.
Acknowledging that universities’ Senate and Councils have regulations guiding how students can be expelled and reasons why they are suspended or expelled, Kinuthia urged them to reconsider.
He lauded UoN for opening a route for all expelled students to go back to schools by writing to the offices as directed.
He described the move as a good thought and urged all the other over 70 universities to open leeway for all expelled students, some of whom were expelled as early as 2000 and have been out there in limbo.
“Some do not know what to do and how to start again or the future of the courses they were learning. I hope they have learned their lessons and that the university Senate will readmit them listen to them, regulate them, and allow them back to school for more learning,” said Kinuthia.
He said he is aware the move will raise questions over instances of criminals who come to school to disrupt learning.
