KCSE talk shouldn’t cloud key issues

In the never-ending Kenyan political drama, we are fighting over the 2017 KCSE results. Some seem to have got over the reforms championed by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Kenya National Examinations Council Chairman George Magoha, to restore the credibility of our national examinations.

The issue seems to be that only 11.5 per cent of the candidates, that is 70,073 students, qualified to enter university by attaining an average of grade C+ and above. Their comments seem anchored on the view that the half-a-million students who did not qualify for university, essentially ‘failed,’ which I think is a very unfortunate position for national leaders to hold.

This view clearly overrates the value of examinations and importance of university education, but even more pertinently obscure critical debates about inequality in our education system and the place of technical and vocational education in driving Kenya’s development.

It should be obvious, though it doesn’t seem that way, that exam results are not the goal of education and should therefore not be used as the measure of the value of investment in the education of children. How disheartening to hear national leaders lament that money spent in our education system has gone to waste because many students have ‘failed’ exams.

It is perhaps apt to quote Albert Einstein that ‘education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.’ For instance, understanding how to take care of a new-born baby is more important to a new parent whether they achieved an “A” in Home Science. No doubt, exams are an important rite of passage but they are not a measure of educational achievement.

Furthermore, I find it difficult to comprehend what the hullabaloo regarding university admission is about. Slightly over 70,000 students qualified for university in 2017. Last year, the universities admitted slightly over 88,000 students. The focus on the lower number of students being admitted to the university confounds me for two reasons.

First, even if the number were to be stretched to reach 100,000 as Prof James ole Kiyiapi suggested, it doesn’t solve the ‘problem’ that proponents seem to be pointing at since there would still be more that half-a-million students who don’t get spaces in the universities.

Secondly, why are we so obsessed with university education as the measure of success?

A society filled with graduate professionals would be fundamentally dysfunctional. That the success of doctor in treating patients requires not only graduate nurses but also diploma and certificate nurses should be obvious.  

To my mind, this debate seems utterly ridiculous and extremely unfortunate to the extent that it masks more important concerns about (in)equality and leaves little room for focus on the technical and vocational educational institutions that would be absorb most of those who don’t qualify for university.

There is no doubt that our educational system is very unequal. Studies by the Society for International Development have underscored this fact. This means, that students who would otherwise qualify for university are precluded because of their socio-economic status.

We already know the gender dimensions to this debate but it is time for us to also require the disaggregation of such data by geography and economic background so that we can devise meaningful interventions that will not block our best talent from proceeding with their education.

Additionally, there is need to change the perspective that TIVET institutions are the places where the ‘failures’ go, as some of our leaders seem to suggest. Far from it.

To its credit, the Government has made tremendous efforts towards reforming these institutions, including by introducing competency-based education to prepare students better for the job market. Perhaps, the focus should be on contributing to building, rather than destroying, merely for political expediency.

- The write is a PhD Candidate in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Kamau.wairuri@outlook.com