Parents of students from Uasin Gishu County who are currently at Laurea University in Finland for studies on April 3, 2023, signed a new MoU with the county.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will provide a framework in which the parents and the county will relate regarding the students in Finland.
Speaking before the parents signed the MoU, County Attorney Stephen Lel gave a highlight of some of the issues it contained.
The key is the obligation of parents to take care of all the fee payments and any other related expenses that the students might incur while at university all through their studies.
“All along, we had been operating as a group. Whenever there was one student who has not paid fee, the whole class would be affected, but we have now agreed that it will be an individual’s student duty to pay fees. If he/she fails to pay, it will be the individual only, and not the whole class that will be locked out,” Lel said.
Not detaching
But even as the county inks a new MoU with parents, it has assured parents that it will not be detaching itself from the program that has recently faced issues over past engagement.
“The county is the safe space, if anything happens to the students, it will be up to the county to find out what is happening. The county is here to stay, it will not detach itself from this program,” said Education County Executive Dr Janet Kosgei.
She further revealed that Deputy Governor Eng. John Barorot will be travelling to Finland to re-negotiate some of the agreements that the students had with the institutions when they joined.
Among the issues, they will be discussing is the possibility of the students getting ample time to work, to raise finances that can help in funding their expenses and fees while in Finland.
The MoU will also be used in negotiating for appropriate work time for the students.
“The MoU has made it clear that the parent must pay fees and other financial obligations for their students. It is this document that the DG will use to ask for the students to get more time to work, aside from studying,” said the County Attorney.
There are over 200 Uasin Gishu students studying in various universities in Finland 65 of who are at the Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
