Public universities are considering extending their current semesters by one to two weeks or introducing intensive teaching programmes to recover four weeks lost during the nationwide lecturers' strike.

Public Universities Vice-Chancellors' Committee Chairperson Prof. Daniel Mugendi said universities would have to balance the need to recover lost teaching time with ensuring students are not disadvantaged and academic programmes are not further disrupted, the Daily Nation reported on Saturday, 31 October 2026.

"There are those that can be accommodated within the remaining part of the semester. They can give it to you like a crash programme and recover. But the others who can't, then they may have to extend the semester by a week or two," Prof. Mugendi said.

The adjustments will depend on how far individual universities had progressed with their academic programmes before lecturers went on strike on 2 October.

"There are very many graduations that are planned. We would want all those graduations to go on as scheduled," he said.

The adjustments could mean students spending longer in their current semesters as institutions reorganise teaching schedules to ensure lecturers complete outstanding coursework before examinations. At universities opting for extensions, examination dates and the start of subsequent academic activities could also be pushed back.

Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala asked university managements to review their academic calendars and make arrangements to recover the four weeks lost during the industrial action.

"We must review academic calendars and make appropriate arrangements to recover the four weeks of lost teaching time. We must also ensure that students' academic progression, examinations and graduations proceed as scheduled," Dr Inyangala said.

"Our students and their families have borne the greatest burden of this disruption. We owe them a stable learning environment," she said.

The nationwide strike ended on 30 October after the government and university staff unions reached a KSh 20 billion agreement towards implementing the 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Under the agreement, university lecturers will receive a 3.5 per cent salary adjustment, alongside a minimum monthly commuter allowance of KSh 18,000, with annual salary increments of five per cent in addition to the initial adjustment.

Universities Academic Staff Union Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the KSh 20 billion would be disbursed in three tranches: KSh 6.7 billion in the 2026/2027 financial year, KSh 6.7 billion in 2027/2028 and KSh 6.6 billion in 2028/2029.

Students had called on the government and university managements to resolve the dispute, warning that the prolonged disruption was affecting their academic programmes and delaying their progression. "It is now a month since this lecturers' strike started. The Ministry of Education is silent. They have failed us. We are the biggest losers in this fight," Ahmed Rashid, president of the University of Nairobi Students Association, told the Nation.

Sources: Daily Nation, 31 October 2026.