JKUAT Reopens Student Portal to Restore Learning After Lecturers’ Strike

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has taken a step to stabilize academic undertakings after weeks of academic paralysis due to a long lecturers' strike.

Through a notice posted on Thursday, November 20, the institution reported that it opened its student portal to enable learners to complete as far as it was possible, critical academic processes that had been put on hold by the industrial action.

The university reinstated the portal, according to the notice of the Registrar of Academic Affairs, Dr. Aggrey Wanyama, beginning Wednesday, November 19, and will continue to be open through Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

This one-week window that the university claims is to provide students with sufficient time to complete session reporting and enroll their units - things many could not accomplish as the strike paralyzed teaching and administrative services. It is notified that on Wednesday, 19 th and till Wednesday, 26th November 2025, the system will be reopened.

This is to offset the session reporting and registration of units which were impacted by the industrial action, as the notice was given, all students who are yet to complete such academic requirements should take advantage of the extended access period so that their registration records are adequately updated.

The Registrar further instructed the Director of ICT, in his communication, to offer technical support during the reopening. The ICT department will be needed to make the portal easily accessible to the target users, deal with any glitches in the system, and all the affected students are able to fulfill their academic activities without any disruption.

The portal opening is a major move to normalize the operations of the university, which has been brought to a standstill after almost two months of the academic meltdown. In November, JKUAT had asked students to resume college at the conclusion of the countrywide strike by university lecturers.

The strike started in September based on previous resentments with regard to late payments, as outlined by the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The strike was officially called off when the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya University staff Union (KUSU) reached a compromise with the government. Under the deal, the state had agreed to pay an outstanding debt to the university staff of Ksh7.9 billion as provided in the CBA.

Of this, KSh3.8 billion shall be paid between November and December 2025, with the rest being paid in another installment.

The unions described the move as a time-saving move in the long-standing wage war and as a means of reinstating sanity among the public universities.

JKUAT provided an opportunity with the reopening of lecture halls on Monday, November 10, 2025, with the lecturers returning to their jobs. The administration thanked students who remained patient and cooperative in the disruption and assured the students that it was working to get normal academics back on track.

School authorities have vowed to restructure schedules, change deadlines, and offer the required assistance to recover the huge time wasted.

Constantine Wesonga, the Secretary General of UASU, also apologized to students on the long delay in learning. Speaking not long after the strike was called off, Wesonga mentioned the 42 days of learning time students lost and stated that lecturers were entirely determined to compensate on the lost time.

I would like to apologise to the comrades for losing the 42 plus days. Nevertheless, our members have promised that they will make up the lost time in full, he said. The university will be expected to adjust its academic calendar and make the ongoing semester longer to cover all the academic information that the semester is supposed to offer. There will also be accelerated teaching plans and additional classes by lecturers where the student will get the entire curriculum, even though the delays will have been made.

Since JKUAT stabilizes itself following weeks of uncertainty, the portal reopening is being perceived as a positive indicator that the institution is regaining normalcy. Students are currently being urged to ensure that they do their registrations early enough to be able to continue with academic programs without any more interruptions.