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Over 100 students from Uasin Gishu County, studying at Tampere University in Finland are staring at deportation over unpaid university fees.
The university has given the students until the end of this week to settle their fee balances, or they will have to discontinue their studies and fly back home.
The students' plight who left the country between September 2021 and September 2022 has put the county government on the spot over the non-payment of fees, despite collecting funds from parents.
A report from the county assembly committee revealed that 111 of the 202 students at Tampere University, 25 at Jyvaskyla University, and 66 at Laurea University are affected.
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Furthermore, 384 students have been enrolled on various courses in Finland under the same program. Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii confirmed the threats by Tampere University and revealed that the university's management had declined to extend the students' stay to enable their parents to settle their fees.
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"We have 111 students pursuing degree and diploma courses at Tampere University and they had up to the end of last month to settle pending fees," the governor said.
Degree students are required to pay €5,000 (Sh677,722), while their diploma counterparts pay €4,000 (Sh542,178).
Esther Muree a parent of one of the students revealed that she sold her piece of land to send her child to study abroad and was shocked on finding out that her child could be sent back home.
"Niliuza shamba Sh800,000 nkalipa school fees kwa kaunti, sasa vile nliskia nlishangaa kabisa,
"[I sold my piece of land for Sh 800,000 and paid the fees through the county government so when I heard my child is coming back I was really surprised]," a sad Muree told the media.
Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor, John Barorot, said that the county government is working to assist parents in paying the fees. He said that the county government had approached some financial institutions to offer loans to parents.
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Payment of fees for the second semester is due on March 31, while the deadline for fee payment for students at Tampere University has already lapsed.
"The county government acted as a guarantor to enable the students to pursue studies and work in Finland, but parents were expected to pay fees for their children.
"The offer is not a scholarship but parents have to meet the education fees of their children. The role of the county government was purely to act as guarantor," Barorot said.