SPEECH BY PROFESSOR EDWIN WAMUKOYA- VICE CHANCELLOR, ZETECH UNIVERSITY DURING THE PRIZE GIVING DAY AT GITHIGA BOYS HIGH SCHOOL,HELD ON SATURDAY 6TH JUNE 2015

  • Distinguished guests,
  • Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Afternoon

I’m pleased to be in your midst today on behalf of the Guests of honour Prof. Edwin Wamukoya, the Vice Chancellor, Zetech University, who had confirmed to grace today’s occasion but got an unavoidable commitment. Please accept his kind apologies.

Indeed, today marks a great day as we come together to recognize those students who excelledin the various categories while encouraging the entire students’ fraternity to work hardif they have to enjoy the fruits of their stay in school.

I like to share success stories as they serve as a great tool of inspiration while giving the audience a true picture of what it means to make it in life. Today I will share the story of Zetech University.

Zetech began in 1999 as an IT training centre under the name Zenith Technologies; it was started by the passion and dedication of a determined 22- year old young man, Ken Mbiuki, who was studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nairobi at that time. Committed to build his business,he grew the centre by enrolling a huge student base and as a result, he decided to transform the IT Centre into an education facility offering different courses.

Thereafter,Zenith was rebranded to the well-known Zetech College; a college that offered a variety of courses to feed an increasing demand for higher learning education in the country. Today, after hard work, persistence and commitment, we can proudly say Zetech College last year attained full university status having received a Letter of Interim Authority from the Commission for University Education and we have over 5,000 students and four campuses in the country.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As much as this story sheds light on the growth of one of the universities in the country, it should inspire you to believe that it is up to you to stand out from the crowd and excel in all that you do.

At your age, you have youth, energy, the time, the opportunity and guidance from your teachers and parents to help you lay out plans for succeeding in life. It may sound like a cliché, dear students, that the future is waiting for you but this is something I cannot overemphasize.

As a young person, you are able to decide to excel in your exams by putting the effort, asking the right questions and studying effectively in order to excel in your exams. I urge you to use your time well to focus on your education as you decide what career you want to follow after completing school.

These days, as you may well know, it is not easy to join a good institution of higher learning and you have to do well in KSCE to join a good university. At Zetech, like many other universities, we follow set criteria of what marks we can accept depending on the course you want to take, be it Engineering, Information Technology, Business, Media studies, Hospitality, Community Development, among others.

In relation to this, remember that your attitude towards all subjects, your school and your teachers is critical to your success; develop the right attitude mind set and you will conquer the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We all agree that school is not entirely about academics but also about developing our students’ talents. For instance at Zetech, we have heavily invested in a talent and development programme that enables our students to identify their gifts and find platforms to display their talents. As a result we are the 2014 Basketball and football men champions. Even in the entertainment area, we have an award-winning drama club that is causing a storm in the drama arena country wide.

Dear students, you may be good at singing, drama, sports, writing among other talents and this is the right time to nurture these abilities as they will help you stand out from the rest of the students.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to conclude bycongratulating the prize winners once more, calling on all of you students to remain focused on your work in and outside the classroom as this will escalate you to greater heights because the country is looking for young people of excellence.

With those few remarks, have a great afternoon. Asante