Raise standards in public schools, former President Daniel Moi urges State

Kabarak, Kenya: Former President Daniel Moi has attributed the poor performance of public primary schools to inadequate attention by the government.

Speaking at Moi High School Kabarak yesterday during the 11th thanksgiving ceremony, Moi challenged the government to help improve standards in public primary schools, including those in rural areas, by deploying more resources and manpower.

He said it was unfair for the Ministry of Education to pay attention to public schools in urban areas and ignore those in the rural yet they are expected to compete in national examinations.

“These schools have less teachers, poor infrastructure and pupils going without meals. The poor performance and the poor grading associated with them should be blamed on the government,” said Moi.

Moi, who is also the founder and patron of Moi High School, Kabarak, asked the government to focus on improving the learning environment in all public schools.

Equal chances

“All children, regardless of where they come from, must be provided with equal learning opportunities. They must learn without being interrupted by anybody or any circumstances throughout their time in school,” added Moi.

Moi said he was optimistic that the ranking of schools in national examinations would resume soon so that schools will have the chance to evaluate their performance and get the motivation to improve.

“It goes without saying that competition can never be a bad idea even for the so-called weak schools. But whether ranking will come back, we shall not wait, we shall continue working hard so as to excel more,” said Moi.

Last week, members of the National Assembly voted in favour of the return of school ranking in national exams after Education CS Jacob Kaimenyi proposed to have the system scrapped.

The former President called on individuals, charitable organisations, including county authorities, to sponsor qualified students from poor families to access quality education available at Kabarak. Moi said that in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), the Kabarak Trust Scholarship had seven candidates, all of who scored between A and B+ in the exams.

“We can push together many disadvantaged students through this school to university, and we will have made a precious investment and transformed the lives of many for the better forever,” he said.

In last year’s KCSE, 248 of 274 candidates attained grade A and A-, with the lowest student attaining a B-, qualifying to be admitted to professional courses in the university.

The school Chief Principal, Henry Kiplagat, said the institution had set a new academic record since its inception 36 years ago, with a mean score of 11.358, emerging the best school nationally.

He thanked the school patron, saying if it were not for his endless love for the institution, this achievement would not have been possible.

Other institutions represented at the ceremony were Sunshine Secondary School, Moi Educational Centre, Sacho High School, Moi Primary Kabarak and Sun and Shield School.

Those present at the ceremony were Senator Gideon Moi, Nakuru governor Kinuthia Mbugua, Baringo governor Benjamin Cheboi, Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro, Kuresoi North MP Moses Cheboi, Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang and Kabarak University vice chancellor Prof Jones Kaleli among others.