By Debbie Gitau
debbiemumbi@gmail.com
Daystar University’s Vice chancellor, Prof. Laban Ayiro on Wednesday, 12th September, graced the first Student Baraza of the new academic year, in the wake of the new dawn.Prof. Ayiro promised that through his office, the institution will be conducting two annual barazas.
This will be a platform to communicate the school’s grievances, understand and address the student’s dispositions, the progress, provide accountability and the way forward for the institution.In light of a joyful spirit, he began with awarding of Tracy Osogo, the recipient of the Tutu Ubuntu Scholarship by endorsing her with finances for her upkeep as she travels to 11 different countries in the next 106 days.
In his speech, the Vice Chancellor mainly geared the students to adopt the doctrine of a strenuous life, the embodiment of vigor in effort, exploiting our potential and having the desire to strive for great things. He stressed on the worrying nature of the academic rigor of Daystarians, the timid-ness of the whole community to rise to global greatness by sacrifice and strife.
“We have agreed this is a new dawn, I need to see some newness in the offices and my students to enjoy a new learning approach in those lecture rooms then it is a new dawn,” Professor Laban Ayiro said.
The ongoing and future projects for the institution were also outlined. Some of the projects for the Athi River campus include building a perimeter wall, to renovate and equip the gym, building of a second borehole, and renovation of the amphitheater. The Nairobi Campus projects include expanding and equipping of the studios and library renovations. The projects will be financed mainly by resource mobilization but normal operations of the school will be financed with tuition. The Vice Chancellor hence emphasized on the need to pay tuition for the university to function normally due to the difficult financial constraints. Therefore, registered students who have not cleared out their fees and are not paying in installments nor have bursary in their accounts will be blocked.
Students also aired out some of their grievances, which included cancellation of classes after registration, ineffectiveness of the transport system, difficult registration for new international students and lack of sport jerseys for football teams. They further suggested that the staff should go for a customer service class and creation of more awareness to specific departments like the Education.
“I feel like the Vice Chancellor is a man of his word. So far, most of the things he has promised have been attended to or are being worked on,” Clara Ndinda, a Daystar Student said.