With the release of last year’s K.C.P.E examination results four statements anchored the analysis of the candidates’ performance: Girls dethroned boys; 50 percent of the candidates failed to reach the average mark; science and mathematics registered a downturn performance; and cheating is existential.
The manner in which attention was focused on the girl child, Monica Warimu Mutinda, topping the ’07 class blended with girls taking the lead in five provinces save Rift Valley, Nyanza and North Eastern provinces is a testimony where their position is “expected” to be: Noble that our gender stereotypes and prejudice is a shamed.
Nairobi and Central provinces girls took a spectacular 50-50 scramble for the top 100 scoreboard confirming that what our girls need is an enabling environment, role models and assurance that they too can perform, outstandingly.
Both boys and girls are fearfully and wonderfully made: endowed with intelligence and individual talent – highly needed in meeting the momentous challenges confronting our times. “It’s the responsibility of the government and parents, teachers and learners to ensure that girls are not marginalized socially or economically, education wise or professionally,” says Kamau, a parent.
Jane a student at Alliance Girls High School articulates: “How prudent will it be, that when history is documented, we will be vindicated as a generation that overcome customs and myths against the girl child by how we treat them at home and school; what we tell them and how we think about them,” pleading, “give has an equitable chance to secure education.”
It’s a challenge for our girls to humbly keep up from the rubbles of the past to seize the opportunity in honing their God given capacity to fit into the wheels of progress and development where education is the engine. Education misanthropist have labeled girls as “second to boys,” “sexual (rape) objects,” “lower IQ,” “house wives,” but this should be regrettable past.
Secondly, that pool of candidates that was not able to jump the pass mark hurdle reminds me of Odhiambo’s letter to our dailies once ago. He revealed that he scored a staggering D + (plus) grade. But, by means he didn’t explain, secured a place in one of the American Universities.
By the time he was writing, Odhiambo was up beat and full of courage to challenge the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) – his name was synonymous with the dean list (best performing students) in every passing quarter (semester).
Is KNEC wanting in administering examination? No. Any given examination is like a thermostat that tells one’s preparedness in a given time to tackle it. Neither K.C.P.E nor K.C.S.E is out to declare some learners as genius or idiots. The examination results spell out a matrix of hints: the role of learning environment and the place of study techniques, the need of study materials and equipments and the teacher motivation, requirements from the community, and innate talents and interests of the learners towards different careers.
With a decided attitude, sincere re-examination and personal motivation “failures” can claim excellence. History is a replete of individuals who turned failure into success.
In his three years in school Thomas Edison the inventor of the bulb and a holder of a chain of patents performed, his teacher to remark, “the boy cannot be able to read or write.” The 21st centaury scientific genius – Albert Einstein said, “I wanted to drop from school,” in his class five years. He repeated to make it to University. Indeed he used to tell his University students, “go slowly, I don’t get things faster,” when they approached him with a problem. Einstein believed that geniuses are 1 percent inspired but 99 percent perspired.
Prof. Ali Mazurui the Chancellor of JKUAT, one of Kenya’s prolific writer and internationally acclaimed political scientist never made it to Makere University as the student of his time, but his resolve to be fascinated with the acquiring of knowledge has catapulted him to the acme of scholarly world.
For those who made it to “super schools,” as the veteran journalist Philip Ochieng’ would have us believe – keep on flying: Education is an endless marathon. You need to fortify your arsenals lest the sun of praises and “self confidence” melt the wax holding your wings. Bravo.
Thirdly, mathematics kept it’s below average feat as its sister English and Kiswahili composition at 41 and 46 correspondingly. Mathematics and science performance registered a downturn from 49 to 46, and 59 to 55 percentages respectively.
Mathematics is a language of science; while, science is the definition of innovation and technology. But KNEC keep on registering an alarming performance in these subjects. “I have realized that the same problem of mathematics and science that is being witnessed in secondary schools has affected primary schools,” Prof. Sam Ongeri said when releasing the K.C.P.E results this year.
Our much coveted development, realization of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), and vision 2030 will remain a mirage if mathematics and scientific knowledge is no fortified from tender classes and put into appropriate application. Our greatest challenge lies in how to respond to this era of technological determinism.
Developed countries have remained economic power houses by dominating the global technological revolution. Yes, they are at the look out to finance science, math and engineering education along side research to produce valuable industrial applications.
The USA is mustering to remain competitive than before through technology. A report issued by the National Academic proposes that: “the government increase the basic research budget by 10 percent a year for seven years; finance scholarship for math and science teaching career and college – level study of science, math and engineering; and make broad band Internet access available nation wide at low cost.” This we need to emulate.
Mogire a DEO argues that teachers need to change teaching approach to these subjects – by pointing their practical application and how their theories/laws are drawn from nature and surroundings. Adegun, a technology lecture and Ayiemba an Electronic don at Baraton University concurs with Ayodo a theoretical physics lecture at Masinde Muliro University that this subjects need to be integrated into plays and songs, play toys and pictures, yes teachers should emphasize more on concepts, from the obvious to the abstract.
Forth, cheating still continues to taint our examination process; where 1,835 candidates up from 2006, 1,728 were involved in cheating. Sadly this is a collective activity that involves teachers, the community and candidates colluding. Findings reveal that 90 percent of last year K.C.P.E cheating cases colluded.
Past years giants such as Busara Forest View Academy and Voi’s St. Kelvin Academy were not spared the blunt, 97 and 76 candidates’ from respective results were nullified. North Eastern province registered the highest cases, 1,089. Nyanza province had the highest number of schools involved, 19, where, 16 candidates of Riamanono were victims.
This stark statistics reveal a large constituency of learners and stake holders who esteem passing of examinations as an end in themselves; rather as a process of learning. Such mentality produces robots as Paul Freire explains in his book The Politics of Education, who is out to cram and regurgitate information without digesting it.
The core purpose of education is to produce thinkers not reflectors of other people’s thoughts, learners who question what they are learning for understanding and venturing into new shores of knowledge thus becoming solution to problems wasting humanity.
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