Uasin Gishu County Study abroad programs on the Spotlight,Canada Students stranded!

Over 120 youth from Uasin Gishu county who enrolled for the Canada education program with the hopes of joining Sternberg , Northern Lights College and Thompson Rivers University have expressed their dysphoria following a four months delay in travelling despite the numerous promises from the Uasin Gishu county government officials.

Speaking to Hubzmedia the second batch of the students said they applied to join the above education institutions in Canada Between July and August,2022 ,

“We applied for the county program by paying 10,000 to a KCB account given by the county officials –

Uasin Gishu Overseas Education,

KCB ELDORET EAST,

A/C 1285922778

Afterwards we were assigned schools as per our KCSE grades, Diplomas or Degrees, with anticipation of Jan intake at our respective schools ,Sternberg , Northern Lights College, Thompson Rivers University were the schools of choice within that application period” Said one of the students on condition of anonymity.

In September, 2022 a meeting was requested by the county officials. We met at Home Craft- Pioneer where we were introduced to the agent -Elimu agency and county officials led by Mr Lelei ,Mr Meshack and other junior officers from the County Education department, a breakdown of what was needed by the said institutions was given to us and also we got a chance to confirm if the schools had accepted our applications. Added the candidate

The Candidates were requested to pay school fees by 15th Sep the set deadline ,money that was channeled to the county KCB account, With a promise that they will be joining the universities of choice by Jan ,2023 intake .

Students joining Sternberg deposited KSh 600,000, while those who ought to have joined Northern Lights College and Thompson Rivers University deposited KSh 950,000.

However No communication was given ,until a meeting was held around Nov ,2022 and late that month between the students and the agents, The delays led to the students missing out on the Jan intake and would further be provided with May intake letters.

“The first letter we got were the Conditional Letters of Acceptance (CLOA) . Which had a breakdown of what the schools needed in order to provide us with a Letter of Acceptance (LOA), Upon receiving our CLOA that’s when we knew which particular intake we were all assigned. We were shocked to see the majority of students from Thompson Rivers University (TRU) and Northern Lights College (NLC) were pushed to join Sep, 2023 intake.”

County officials promised the Sep intake students that a reapplication will be made for them to be among the May intake students that Never happened, They Note

Sternberg students who have were supposed to have joined the school by 10th April ,2023 are still in the country while the Northern Lights College, and Thompson Rivers University students who were supposed to join the varsities by May 1st this year have not received any communication regarding their travel arrangements five days later .

“There’s has been no relevant communication in regards to our delay ,we have been informed that the institution we were supposed to join are demanding we pay the entire school fees before we are granted visas ,that amount is double what we have already paid , Our concern is the raising of the 100% fee payment by the Embassy in order for them to grant us a visa, the schools had already alerted us of a fee increment plan starting September 2023,Why are we being taken in a circus, is it another ploy to swindle our monies?” They questioned

“We are concerned about finding employment on time in order for us to be able to cater for our fees as promised as well as pay for our accommodation for the next semester”.

Saturday March 19th, 2022 former governor and the current Uasin Gishu senator Jackson Mandago signed an agreement between the Northern Lights College CEO Todd Bondaroff.

Governor Bii after signing the MoU with the Thompson Rivers University Canada

In November 2022 the same year Governor Jonathan Bii signed MoU’s with the same Universities with the first batch of the students under his administration expected to travel by May 2023 this month,

However students and parents are perturbed, extrapolation of the similar Finland education program could be heading their way.

The County government of Uasin Gishu has however attributed the travel challenges to delays in Visa processing and therefore lacks a substantive answer on when the students will be travelling.

The East African, In November 2022 reported the rising concerns over high rejection rates for African students in Canada due to its immigration systems tinged with racism.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/world/african-students-tough-battle-for-canada-visas-4023070