8-4-4 remedy is not in 2-6-6-3, it is in itself
Matters Education. The debate on the direction that our education system ought to take – including the do’s and the don’ts has been heating up for the last two months now, and rightfully so. From the back and forth arguments being advanced by Kenyans of various backgrounds that constitute our beautiful heritage, Kenya, it is crystal clear that all are in unison; Kenya needs an education system that works, Period. An education that does not discriminate, but rather improves the character quality of our children as it prepares them as patriotic citizens who are ready and well equipped with the 21st century knowledge and skills capable of propelling them and consequently the nation forward and compete favourably in the global village economy that we now live in.
Parent, teachers, and education officers alike have been expressing their opinions suggesting variety of ways in which our education system could be salvaged. Few are the times when we have heard or even read from the students themselves, although they are the core in this whole mix. Everyone –all the stakeholders- in the education sector needs to be heard (loud and clear) on this. Our education system will be saved by efforts from everyone; teachers, parents, students, education officers and well-wishers.
Recently, the minister for education (bear in mind that we have two full ministries charged with the education docket) announced that the country is getting ready to disband the 8-4-4 system of education and replace it with a new 2-6-6-3 system! Sounds quite refreshing, doesn’t it? Like back in 1985 when the then government replaced the 7-4-2-3 system with 8-4-4, we have come full circle with the current leadership. By this I mean we are treating the symptoms of a killer disease without actually addressing its root cause. In my humble opinion, 2-6-6-3 will solve none of our education woes. Many will remember 8-4-4 was brought to address the challenges of 7-4-2-3 but it actually never did and hence resulting into the many changes that were instituted thereafter including the scrapping of some key subjects at both primary school and secondary school level. Now the country is in agreement that the cancer that was to be cured by 8-4-4 was never cured by treating the symptoms, and that is why it is rearing its ugly head again. And what is the government doing again? Same old, same old failed technique of treating the symptoms by introducing 2-6-6-3, and failing once more to address the root cause of problems in our education system. Sanitizing the 8-4-4 system, as the government seems to be doing, means we will be back on the same spot after a short while. And who knows, by that time a whole generation or more, might have been sacrificed.
It is not the number of years that our children are spending in school that is the issue, neither is the arrangement of the same across the board. Instead, it has more to do with some salient issues that often seem trivia and always overlooked, all the time because they call for a break from the past.
One, the content matter of our education system is extremely wanting, no doubt. The material, and the quality of it, contained in our education books forms the backbone of the backbone imparted on our children, and as a result, it calls for constant review and update on routine basis from qualified personnel. The uniformity of this content again ought to cut across the country –if there has to be a national exam. (There could be exceptions with some practical subjects like Agriculture, Home Science e.t.c which have to be specially tailored to the specific needs of the students and the readily available resources within the respective geographical location of the school).
In this regard, the government ought to swiftly address the sorry state of our education system having been changed to be exam-oriented, and focus on value addition. Passing exams and excelling in school is good. It should be encouraged. However, success in life should not be measured in terms of how many A’s one got but on the contrary how much one improved –how much value did one add to his/her life while at school and how well the knowledge and skills learned will help him/her in future life. It is on the same line that technical institutions (famous during the early years of 8-4-4) should be re-introduced and revamped so that students who are not acutely endowed academically but are excellently talented in other areas like music, sports, drama, farming, carpentry, masonry, tailoring and dress-making, e.t.c can exploit their God-given talents and potential and make a decent living of their own out of them, and as a result help in nation building. Or what would be wrong with being a successful Kenyan musician, or farmer or sportsman?
The next important thing is for us Kenyans to own up to our educational system and play our part as concerned stakeholders. Truncating the society and demarcating groups as those comprising of teachers, parents, students, educational officers etc helps only but in perfecting our attitudes of blaming the ‘other’ group and accusing it of failures that in most cases are perceived to be theirs but in retrospect they are our collective failures and we all have a stake in them. We are one society, and drawing lines helps in aggravating the problem rather than solving it. Looking at it differently, one wonders why would we as Kenyans forget the simple fact that most teachers are also parents, and that most parents are also education officers. How do we forget that it is these students from our education system, who graduate and eventually end up as education officers, well-wishers as well as parents. Take it, or leave it; we are all in the mix, one way or the other, regardless of what group name you give to yourself or the one you perceive to be the ‘other’.
In an effort to resuscitate our I.C.U’d education system therefore, it is imperative that all and sundry have to come together, burry our perceived group differences and agree to work together as a team. After all, we are fighting a common enemy. And a good battalion knows better than to pull in different directions by fighting a disorganized battle each blaming the other, if it has to win over its opponent.
What became of the old days, if I may ask, when we all congregated at the home-area, division, district and even provincial levels to witness and appreciate local talents: academic, music, drama, sports and others? Frankly, such events served as good motivation factors to us all back then. Those that were academically sharp were cheered, appreciated and rewarded in front of fellow students, parents and education officers, and so were their counterparts during games, sports, music and drama. But all this is gone now. In some parts I’m told it is completely forgotten. The reason? The schools (read parents) can’t afford to foot the bill for such extra-curricular activities. Out of sheer ignorance, some have even said such activities as music, games, sports and drama are but a waste of time and students should focus on academics only. That is exactly what happens when an education system emphasizes academic achievement at the expense of a holistic human development and enhancement of talents and skills. To curb this sorry and desperate situation, the government ought to make it its priority to first of all fully fund these activities. Secondly, it should mandatory by including them in the school calendar, and thirdly it should diligently supervise and co-ordinate these activities through out the country. Last but not least, the government should come up with a mechanism of doing a follow up so as to improve them. This follow up will inform the government on the potential of its youth and ergo make it better placed to strengthen sporting, music, drama, and industry as well as it does the same to academics. Here I mean the planning and construction of music institutions, thespian theatres, gymnasium and stadia etc. But again, if the federal government is unable to do this, then the counties can as well take over since each county would want to better its education and improve the quality of its youth. Methinks with the devolved government each county will be allowed to come up with its local education laws and policies to suit its residents in order to exploit its full potential and compete favourably with the other 46 counties. However, these local laws should all be in tandem with the overall constitution of the country.
At such a time when everyone owns up to the education challenges that our nation currently faces, each will do all that is at their disposal to better improve overall. Then, we might even return to the good old days, like in my sub-location where form four graduates would voluntarily go to teach primary school pupils for free, as A-level graduates and university students could ‘coach’ secondary school students free of charge. Days were better then, and the society was good. Even now, they could improve and be the best, but only if we want to and are commited to making it so.
We have to once again –like before- start being each other’s keeper. Education after all is collective and never an individual effort in seclusion. Mark you, I did not say examination is collective. To put it differently, and you can quote me; while examination ought to be an individual affair, education (learning) is a collective endeavor. In the recent past, education has been so individualized to the extent that able parents (parents and guardians who can afford) hire teachers to coach and teach their children privately at home, schools have resulted to having a ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ unofficial term called ‘coaching’ all done at a fee of course. And the reason for this by the concerned institutions managers is that it is meant for remedial teaching and to help cover the syllabus! This is inspite of the ministry of education’s warning that parents should not be charged for this coaching. In some other areas, in order to cover the overcrowded syllabus before the national examinations, some schools have cleverly resulted in beginning teaching their classes very early in the morning before the legally stipulated time, and at night after the official time. One would expect teachers to be doing this for free, but not in Kenya. The remuneration paid as a result has been politely baptized ‘motivation fees’ motivation fees’ ‘remedial token’ etc
It is clear here that something is terribly amiss. A crime is being committed, and everyone –all the stakeholders- are equally culpable. For one, the ministry officials, T.S.C, K.N.U.T, K.U.P.P.E.T et al can not pretend not to know this is taking place under their very nose. Their children and relatives attend these schools. Their aunts, uncles and cousins are the teachers and parents in these schools. Secondly, the parents and children are equally to blame and they can not burry their head in the sand and purport not to abet in this unjustified act. The Swahili people have an adage that says ‘mtego wa panya huwanasa waliokuwemo na wasiokuwemo.
The ministry knows the syllabus is overcrowded and the teachers overloaded. There is so much to cover within a very short time, yet there are so few to do it. The facilities are so dilapidate and the environment so compromising. Add a pinch of the economic and social pressure on the society and as a result, you will find an education system of anything goes. The teaching methods are outdated, all being teacher centered instead of learner centered, and the teachers are ill prepared to deliver. Here, the classical method of teacher being a sage on stage rather than a guide by the side takes center stage. Students are receivers of information with little time to engage and process it, hence turning into rote learners so that they can regurgitate it during examination time.
If we want to level the playing field for our children, then the system ought to subject all the students to equal learning conditions without allowing for some to have a n advantage over others. Otherwise how do we justify a student attending a ‘close home’ secondary school established five year ago through C.D.F has to siit the same national examination with another who boards at a ‘provincial’ or worse still ‘national’ school and attain the same mark and therefore compete favourably for the few available slots to the scarce institutions of higher learning? Since when did it become a pupil’s fault (shauri yake) that she attends a local public primary school while her neighbor attends an academy yet they have to compete for the same inadequate slots for secondary school. Competition is healthy, and it should be cultivated among our children; but at least not when the playing field is tilted towards one team’s goal. None of us would want to compete in a game where the referee is dressed in the opposing team’s jersey. It is unfair to say the least.
I do not wish to repeat what has been said by others; that our entire education system needs to be cleaned –not disbanded- from Jogoo house downwards. For the umpteenth time, Jogoo house has crowed that those head teachers who have been in one station for many years and have not performed ought to be moved. I concur. Similarly, teachers who have been in one station without showing improvement ought to be moved as well. But while we are at it, and to be true to our word, don’t those at Jogoo house have to look at how long they have been there just crowing without improving? Well, it all begins and ends with us. The buck stops with Kenyans. If people have to be moved for failing to show improvement (and I am for improvement not performance because education is measured in terms of value added) proper guidelines must be put in place to measure this improvement and it should be made explicitly clear to all concerned so they know on what terms they are operating and what is expected of them.
The supervision of the overall education is massively wanting. Nowadays, promotions and or demotions are arbitrarily done. Corruption runs from the top officials to the low rank officers like a river flows downstream. The rules are ignored, those incompetent in their stations are either transferred and or promoted to higher offices, the competent and improving are not recognized or rewarded. Not even by a word of mouth in most cases. Ultimately we end up with a perfectly corrupt education system where everyone is looking for the other to heap blame on, those in positions of authority, regardless of the level, make money hand over fist and as a result our child suffer irreparable consequences. And what are we left with after all that? Ironically, we have very good, and meticulously written, policies on paper but with no one to implement them as so stipulated.
I am one of those who advocate for decent remuneration for our teachers and education officers as a way of boosting their morale and enhancing productivity as a result. What I find hard to reconcile though, is how our legislators who are some of the best paid in the world yet the least performing can argue in favour of or at least support the teachers’ quest for salary increment. They have set a very unpleasant message that the amount of pay does not necessarily translate to improvement of output in an employee. This doesn’t boarder irony, not in Kenya.
And as food for thought, if our education system is divided into three tiers namely: Elementary, Secondary and Tertiary, then why do we have so many confusing names and titles within the same? Why should we, for instance, have “Primary schools” and a “Full primary schools”? Why do we still have “Secondary schools” and “High schools” in 8-4-4. We should harmonize these names in order to avoid other mushrooming names as “C.D.F. schools”, outdated ones like “Harambee schools”, unpleasant ones like “Village/Bush schools” and the like. Or better still, do we really need to baptize our schools as “District”, “County” or even “National” schools? Do we have to brand them again when they all are offering SECONDARY level education while following the same curriculum on the children of the entire nation (irrespective of which corner of the country they hail from or what their backgrounds are)? Doesn’t this branding have an overall impact on not only the students but also to the parents and teachers as well?
That is not all with naming as the teaching fraternity has not been spared either. At least such titles as U.T (Untrained teacher) have slowly faded out of the lexicon. However, others have mutated exponentially in recent times. Sample this; ATS I, ATS II, PI, PII, Graduate teacher, Head teacher, Principal, Senior principal, Chief principal ad infinitum! As many would guess, some of these titles are highly coveted than others. Never mind one can be in one institution, discharging the same duties (perhaps without improvement) and still manage to metamorphose from one title to another. I’m reminded some titles mean nothing on paper but just for prestige and recognition –hence causing some gullible teachers to ‘buy’ them at whatever cost. Call it the ‘scramble and partition of titles’ if you may.
Funny how we have come full circle as it were. 8-4-4 was never the problem. Sixteen years in school was not the issue, and making them seventeen (2-6-6-3) is not the panacea. It is the content that is taught and the policies and modalities of implementing them fairly and equitably across the country that is the thorn in the flesh for Kenya. It is addressing the twenty first century challenges through our education system that we so direly need. Personally, I will be surprised if we do not go back to revive the very ‘village polytechnics’ we once shunned and avoided and discouraged. I will be shocked if the ‘new education system doesn’t emphasize the technical subjects like Agriculture, Music, Home Science, art and Craft etc some of which were even ruled unexaminable due to their being less important. Remember in the 90’s most of the mixed secondary schools were being ‘unmixed’ by separating girls from boys? Now with the new secondary schools being established next to every primary school, no one talks of the dangers we so much saw and sought to alleviate then. Don’t take me wrong on this, I was never for ‘unmixing’ our children. Besides, they were mixed in primary school, are most likely to be mixed in tertiary schools and will forever remain mixed at home, place of work and in the society at large. What is the point of separating them at secondary school level? Some say it is because they are teenagers and as such, their bodies and emotions are at the peak of undergoing changes. Truth is there are many of them whose changes start taking place while still in primary school and others delay till well after secondary school. Instead of the society looking for scapegoats here, we should collectively seek to inculcate good morals and responsibly teach our children so that they can live together harmoniously. If this is not done, done early and in a hurry, then national cohesion and integration will for ever remain a mirage to our country. The seeds of exclusion should be nipped in the bud and in its place, the one of inclusion planted and nurtured to blossom and bloom for a better brighter future.
Martin Okariithi '12
