The ministry of education particularly the cabinet secretary has come under sharp criticism following his record release of national examinations results. On 20th December 2017, Dr. Fred Matiang'i released results of Kenya Certificate Of Secondary Education examinations which were concluded less than a month ago.
Many quotas were not happy with this development especially the Kenya National Union Of Teachers through its Secretary General, Hon Wilson Sossion. Mr. Sossion has called for the cancellation of the results arguing that the grades were "dubiously assigned" to students in a bid to regulate the number of students joining university.
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This is an argument that has been seconded by the opposition through its leader Rt. Hon Raila Odinga. According to critics, the examinations marking process is no longer given the seriousness it deserves.Below are five reasons why the government will not succumb to these calls;
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1. Admission by ministry
Recalling of the results would be a submission and an admission by the ministry of education/government that indeed the 'unorthodox,' dubious examinations marking system is faulty as alleged by critics. No government would want to portray itself in bad light!
2. The opposition has joined the call
Every Kenyan knows what serious debate on pertinent issues is turned to especially whenever it's championed by the opposition or pro opposition sections- pure politics. This is irrespective of how the issue raised can improve our systems. The powers that be will and do anything to scuttle such advocacy with an objective of humiliating the opposition or just to outshine it. There should be sober consideration of serious and progressive concerns whenever they are raised irrespective of who are raising them.
3. Changes in the exam system/objective
In its defense, the ministry of education has argued that it will be relentless in pursuing changes in the education/examinations system to ensure that only the convincingly suitable/deserving pupils/students will get good grades. This is in a push to boost merit and genuine knowledge/skill.
4. Matiang'i is not a punching bag
The tough talking minister is a no-nonsense leader who is not easily cowed down by critics. This is evident through his firm stand on this year's post election demonstrations and chaos. He didn't go slow on ensuring that hooligans were met with full force of the law despite calls from the opposition to stop what seemed like persecution of opposition supporters.
5. Backdated Chaos
An admission that the examination results are bogus would lead to backdated chaos as critics look at the way national examinations results have been released retrogressively during Matiang'i era. This would force all the involved education officials to step aside to pave way for investigations into this crisis.
Conclusion
In my considered opinion, exactly are not the best tools to measure the brightness of the students. We've had school dropouts who have succeeded in life; the most important thing is for the stakeholders to audit the examination system and fix it wherever it's broken. They must give priority to value addition of the education system as opposed to the grading system. The means justifies the end!
