The government has been asked to undertake a national survey to ascertain the number of academic certificates withheld by schools and the amount of money involved.
Martin Ndegi, a job seeker, says failure to clear fees is not reason enough to deny one a certificate, saying they are not to blame. His certificate is withheld for a Ksh30,000 debt.
He suggested that the government and leaders at regional level, especially governors, need to come together to start a kitty to clear the arrears or have them written off.
“Withholding of my academic documents has continuously denied me and others opportunities for employment and I suggest that the government intervenes to have the arrears cleared or written off,” said Ndegi.
Many other residents of Embu say it is wrong and should be taken as an abuse of human rights of those affected.
They said institutions should know that they are punishing their former learners for the mistakes of their parents and guardians.
Hundreds of young men and women who sought recruitment into the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Forest Services (KFS) and Kenya National Police Service, among others, are turned away over their lack of academic certificates.
Pursuit of withheld certificates is done individually and due to that, the magnitude of the crisis remains unknown.
Although withholding of certificates was recently banned by the government, with the Education CS Ezekiel Machogu ordering all education institutions to release them, it still goes on unabated.
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By Robert Nyagah
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