- Kisii parents have backed stricter enforcement of dress codes at Moi University and CUEA.
- They say decent dressing can help strengthen discipline, dignity and ethical conduct among university students.
- The parents now want national guidelines on decent dressing across tertiary institutions in the country.
Parents in Kisii County have lauded Moi University and the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) for moving to strictly enforce students’ dress codes, saying the step will redeem the fast-declining social and ethical conduct among youth in institutions of higher learning.
The parents, led by retired teacher and former Councillor Bete Ndege, who spoke to Education News on Thursday, said universities were slowly turning into fashion runways where nakedness is mistaken for beauty, and that the decision to draw a clear line is timely and courageous.
In a memo dated September 22, 2026, by Dean of Students Dr Alice Mutai, Moi University reminded students of its Rules and Regulations Governing the Conduct and Discipline of Students and warned that indecent dressing would attract disciplinary action. The university banned micro and mini-skirts, skin-tight trousers, ragged or ripped jeans, low-cut blouses and dresses, micro shorts, transparent and revealing clothing, sleeveless T-shirts exposing bra straps, clothes exposing the chest, T-shirts with obscene writings, sagging trousers and plastic footwear, including slippers and Crocs.
The memo further directed that staff should not serve students dressed indecently as part of enforcement. A similar enforcement drive at CUEA has in the past required students to wear acceptable and decent attire, discouraging short skirts above the knee, see-through outfits, low-neckline tops and tight-fitting clothes.
Speaking in Kisii town and in several WhatsApp parents’ groups from Bomachoge Borabu, Kitutu Chache and Nyaribari, the parents said nakedness has no place in a lecture hall.
“Education without character is empty. When our daughters go to university in tiny clothes that expose their bodies, it is not freedom, it is self-destruction,” said one parent from Nyangusu.
The parents outlined why proper dressing matters.
First, it protects dignity and fights nakedness. A university is a place of knowledge, not a beach. When the body is overly exposed, learning is distracted and the moral fabric of society is torn. Decency is not old-fashioned; it is respect for self and for others in the shared space.
Second, proper dressing builds self-esteem. Students who dress modestly and neatly carry themselves with confidence. They are addressed by their ideas, not by their bodies. When you dress to provoke, you invite mockery, not respect. When you dress with purpose, you walk taller.
Third, dress reflects maturity and education status. A university student is not a high school child. The way you dress should tell the world that you are transitioning into the professional world. Employers judge. Society judges. A torn jean and Crocs may be comfortable, but they do not communicate seriousness, responsibility or readiness for the workplace.
Fourth, university students are role models to the young ones. Thousands of pupils in primary and secondary schools in Kisii look up to their brothers and sisters on campus. When those on campus normalise indecent dressing, the young ones copy. When they model decency, the young ones aspire.
Otara backs universities’ move
Joining the parents, Kenyenya Subcounty Peace Coordinator Nathan Otara lauded the move and appealed to the Cabinet Secretary for Education to award the Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa for pioneering the dress code conduct in her institution, which he claimed others have now started to emulate.
Otara said CUEA set the moral pace when many institutions feared to act, and its leadership deserves national recognition for defending decency and African values in education.
He added that he will mobilise the Abagusii Council of Elders and senior education officials from the region to visit the two universities to “reward them in our own African way” for reinforcement of decent dressing in our universities.
Moses Okemwa, an architect and 2025 Presidential Heroes awardee and alumnus of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), said he is ready to support any idea meant to restore dress code in our universities.
“Dressing is identity. As architects we are taught that design communicates values. If our universities can design a dress code that teaches respect, we must all support it,” Okemwa said.
His message was echoed by a retired teacher, author of many vernacular books and researcher in African way of dressing, who noted that in Gusii culture, dress was never just about covering the body but about communicating respect, marital status, age and responsibility. The elders, he said, dressed to preserve dignity, not to expose.
The parents have now asked the Ministry of Education to go beyond individual university memos and make a national law and policy framework on decent dressing in all tertiary institutions, with clear, fair and consistently applied guidelines that respect dignity.
They said other universities like Egerton, Kabianga and University of Eldoret that have taken similar steps should be supported, and that parents will stand with Vice Chancellors who choose discipline over populism.
READ ALSO: Kisii bishop urges youth to champion peace, teachers to remain good role models
“We cannot complain about moral decay while celebrating indecency as modernity,” the parents said. “Let our children learn books and manners.”
By Enock Okong’o
Get more stories from our website: Education News
To write to us or offer feedback, you can reach us at: editor@educationnews.co.ke
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
