but there are many students and parents who are using the day to study, not to sleep late and play!As the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations for those completing high school continues into the last days of the 2008 round of national exams, the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations (KCPE) for Standard/Grade Eight students begins next week. Like the exams for the older kids, these national exams, not any past scores, will determine their future opportunities for education. In many societies there are certain years in a child’s life that become a milestone – that year is Class Eight for most Kenyans. Often beginning the year before, all of a family’s time and finances are focused on helping the child prepare for the KCPE. Aunts, uncles, cousins and friends with special skills become valued tutors. The exam is the centre of any conversation you have with family members. Especially for the kids from lower income homes, the majority of those sitting for the exams, a poor score when the results are announced in early 2009, will mean an end to formal education. High school is now “free” in Kenya, but there are many hidden costs and not enough free national high schools for all those who would like to attend.
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“Pupils left behind by free schooling” (The Standard, October 29, 2008), an editorial, shares more: “When dust finally settles on the national examinations at the end of the year, three quarters of the country’s best young brains will have gone to waste, perhaps never to be redeemed, thanks to a competition heavily tilted in favour of the privileged few. Against that backdrop, 211,475 of the 704, 918 pupils who sat KCPE last year did not qualify for secondary school and they now confront an uncertain future at a tender age … Free education …sounds hollow in the ears of poor parents … the rich … have their children in top-notch schools with state of the art facilities and some of the nation’s best-qualified teachers … Examinations are set with no regard to such disparities.”Please join Kenyans in praying – and they have been, are, and will be praying – for the Class Eight students who have rehearsal exams next Monday, November 10th, to learn how to mark their test papers.
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They will sit for the national exams in five or more subjects on Tuesday through Thursday (11th-13th). Pray that the many students who remain in camps for Internally Displaced People will have adequate food and sleep during the exams. Pray that the government’s plans to help them get to the exam centres will succeed. Pray for confidence for the students who have been without teachers this year due to the tensions in the country. Pray for an exceptional ability to remember all they have learned for students in the northern arid parts of Kenya where “rocks, stones, bricks, logs and even exposed roots of giant trees come in handy for pupils whose parents are too deprived to afford desks” (“Pupils left behind…). Pray that these students, Kenyan’s future politicians and leaders, will enter the test rested and capable of doing their very best during the exams. Pray also for peace for the parents. Bert Yates--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
“Pupils left behind by free schooling” (The Standard, October 29, 2008) – http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?&id=1143998065&catid=14&a=1
“Exam help for students hit by poll chaos” (The Nation, November 6, 2008) – http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/487718/-/tljv34/-/index.html
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This posting also appears at http://Omba4Kenya.blogpsot.com
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