Matiang'i should address the mental rot in universities

Everyone agrees that Education CS Fred Matiang’I has done a good job so far in streamlining the education sector. From releasing results unexpectedly and catching people off guard to cancelling worthless courses offered by prominent universities, the Cabinet Secretary has really paved the way for the education sector. Not to forget, releasing a new curriculum set to take effect from May this year. This is admirable from a common mwananchi’s point of view because seeing a top person in government really actualising changes in a scandal - riddled sector brings hope that he has good intentions for the education sector.

However, when cleaning a house, I think from the ground up is the best way to do it. In terms of trying to change the learning structure and curriculum Matiang’i is on point but does he really know what goes around in campus in terms of lifestyle of students? I’m not sure if he is supposed to address this but since he is the Cabinet Secretary for Education and is hell bent of cleaning up the ‘rot’ in universities as experts put it, Mr. Matiang’i should know that he still has a long way to go to change the environment where students learn.

As much as there is an academic rot, in universities, mentally students are not so upright as well. For example, does the Education CS know how many abortions are performed in universities in a year? Does he know how many ladies die in campus while trying to find cheap methods of exterminating a pregnancy?

You will be surprised at how many abortions go ignored in campuses simply because top media contacts did not get information, or chose to discard the information as non-newsworthy. In my campus days, to be exact, I count five abortions that took place at night, resulting to dead babies found wrapped in ordinary plastic bags. Well, the story might trend in the campus for a couple of days but people move on with their lives as soon as the dead child is disposed.

Some actions in campus that are not well addressed by government may have an effect to the overall performance of students, making the world have an assumption that a university produces half-baked graduates when the university itself was not at fault.

Matiang’i should find a way of creating a centres in all campuses where girls with pregnancies get monthly checkups, instead of them getting rid of a baby without knowing the consequences and having to live with that guilt for the rest of their lives. Maybe, just maybe if behavior changes first, mentally, then academic results will start to be seen by employers who hire graduates fresh off campus.