A reaserch by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology has now revealed that gambling has started posing a serious threat to students’ academic success in Kenyan universities. According to the researchers in schools of Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences, gambling is top-notch amongst students, with 70-75 percent of the university population involved in these practices.
It is reported that over Ksh60 million is spent by students and staff at JOOUST alone every year on gambling. More than Ksh1.2 million is reportedly spent weekly on activities such as online betting, aviator, wheel spinning, card games, and pool. The research, titled “Gambling Effects among Vulnerable Groups in Public Universities,” was conducted between February and July this year. It found that 27.5% of students sampled are at high risk of gambling addiction, while 41.6% of students and 4.8% of staff fall into the moderate-risk category, according to the Canadian Problem Gambling Severity Index tool.
The study was sponsored by the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol, UK. It assessed 385 students, 21 staff members, and data collected through focus groups with student leaders and religious groups. According to Gregory Jumah, a PhD student at JOOUST and the principal investigator of the research, gambling is rife amongst students and staff, gravely affecting those vulnerable groups such as persons living with disabilities, low-income employees, and students from poor backgrounds.
Jumah said that despite the known adverse effects, gambling stays in these segments because it is perceived as an income-generating activity, form of entertainment, and a way to elope from anxiety and desperation. This mostly resulted in addiction, leading to a negative psycho-social effect in terms of relational problems, poor academic performance, and low work productivity. A shocking revelation of the study was that it also recorded high psychological distress, where 57 percent of student gamblers and 14 percent of staff gamblers have considered thoughts of suicide.
The findings call for urgent intervention strategies to address this growing problem of gambling among students in Kenyan universities, especially among vulnerable populations.