The Human Rights Club Hosts Second Webinar on Right to Education
The USIU-Africa Human Rights Club hosted a second webinar on right to education on Friday, August 7 2020. The session was held to discuss the impact that COVID-19 has had on University, its , students, parents, lecturers and the steps that are being taken to address them.
In attendance as panelists were:
Prof. Martin Njoroge, Dean of School of Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU-Africa;
Hudson Amenya, the Secretary General Student Council USIU-Africa;
Solomon Mainye, Fundraising Officer at USIU-Africa.
The session was hosted by Human rights Club members Lee-Anne Ndegwa, Boniface Muthomi and the club patron Dr. Njoki Wamai.
In his comments, Prof. Njoroge noted that the institution had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the University had to adjust to delivering its mandate of teaching and learning online.
"With the lockdown in place and schools closed, we have had to invest in learning resources such as Zoom licenses which were needed to facilitate the smooth transition from physical to online learning.,"he said.
"Many people think online learning is cheaper that physical learning, which is untrue. . Online learning is actually expensive because of the investment in buying licenses, upgrading the infrastructure used,and the development of content that is delivered across these online platforms, "he added.
Mr Mainye noted that during this period he has received a lot of pleas from the students who are not able to meet the financial demands of the school. He said that in as much as the Educate Your Own program has been able to raise a good amount of money to benefit the less fortunate, there are a number of students who are still unable to be sponsored once the funds run low. . He applauded the University for partnering with the Mastercard Foundation to launch the Scholars Program that will provide full scholarships to young students who possess exceptional skills and talents.
During the Q&A session, participants praised the efforts that had been made by the University to ensure that teaching and learning continued as seamlessly as possible during this period, with special mention being made of the Respondus Lockdown browser that was used to successfully administer examinations in the Summer Semester.
