Kenya’s Education System: A leaning tower of Babel

Today's top news story of the Daily Nation went by the title “students with lower grades to join varsity”. The good news was that public universities agreed to admit high school graduates with lower marks compared to last year.

Of course this will improve the lot of students who because of grades would not be able to enter university. However, though this should be a harbinger of hope for Kenya’s youth, several questions emerge on the real effects of such a move.

The unemployment rate amongst Kenya’s 35 million people is approximately 40%. It is estimated that 64% of these are the youth. Out of these, only 1.5% of unemployed youth have formal education beyond secondary school level and the remaining over 92% have no vocational or professional skills training, at all. But does allowing these extra youth the opportunity to go to university make a real impact in their chances of getting a job?

Even though universities are the cradle of research and innovation which could be perceived as a step in the right direction of nurturing future entrepreneurs, the education system before tertiary level does not adequately impart the innovative and resilience skills required of entrepreneurs.

Annually more than 240,000 post-primary students enter the labour force. Additionally 143,000 students graduate from high schools. The Kenyan education system in its current form does not equip these school leavers with skills to start business. Rather the curriculum is founded on rote learning rather than creativity and innovation, further stifling entrepreneurial development.

Even in the universities the calibre of the teaching staff raises questions. The Commission for Higher Education recently proposed reforms where the lowest qualified lecturer would be a tutorial fellow holding a Masters degree. The eminent scholar and noted historian Prof. Bethwell Ogot has been in the forefront as an opponent of this measure. He was recently quoted in the media decrying such a move saying "some teachers with a Masters are even allowed to teach Masters students".

And though these new regulations should be commended as a move to regulate the amphitheatre football stadium scenario many university students have to face and hoarse throated lecturers’ rue, at the end of the day it’s really not what is heard in a lecture but the quality of the content and transfer of knowledge that counts.

Kenyan education reforms have not only been the preserve of academia. Politicians whilst campaigning have promised “new education systems” that increase the capabilities and capacity of the youth to “effectively operate in the knowledge economy”. Even Vision 2030 - Kenya's development plan has lofty claims founded on the education system that will by then make Kenya if not a newly industrialised economy then a middle class one. However government commitment to education has been compromised with a new Education Bill that at least is expected to enforce laws that will keep children in schools, where the Ministry of Education has been less than proactive in ensuring it passes through parliament.

A question of merit versus the feel good factor

Meritocracy is a situation where opportunities are extended based on demonstrated talent, competence and ability, rather than wealth, family background, socio-economic class and other historical determinants of social position.

When extending a helping hand to enable those who just by a few points missed entry into university, thought must also be given to both those already in public universities who worked hard to make the grade as well as those still in secondary school. With no ultimate reward (a decent job with a decent wage assured at the end), the message to those students in our campuses as well as high schools is that hard work in school no longer pays. After all, another meeting of university dons can be convened to lower the entry grade further at a later date.

So what balance can be accommodated?

First, as the first crop of standard one pupils of the 2003 universal primary education policy edge closer to entering secondary school, the policy of free primary and subsidized secondary schooling needs a committed review, with the ultimate objective of providing quality education, whether for all or for a few has to be debated, as well as the subject of another post.

Kenyan policy makers also have to be honest with themselves and the People of Kenya about the increasing rate of unemployment particularly amongst the youth. The education system has to provide financial literacy, personal and business management training as core subjects. The time when a job was assured even in the civil service is over – at Yipe.org we have even heard of Masters degree holders digging trenches as part of the ill-thought Kazi Kwa Vijana programme.

To accommodate both the university graduates and lower level school leavers estimated at 800,000 annually, business reforms that specifically target micro-enterprise startups also need to be implemented.

Ultimately, education has to be held sacred. Kenyans need to take ownership of education and never allow it to be politicized ever again.