Education, conveyor belts and an island nation

The poor in Kenya have traditionally looked at education as the conveyor belt that takes them from poverty to affluence — or at least improves their socio-economic status. If you listen to stories of affluent Kenyans on how they have risen from humble backgrounds, you will realise there is no need to be corrupt.

Interestingly, even in developed countries, a good education still remains a conveyor belt. The popularity of private schools in Kenya bears testimony to this deep belief in the power of education.

Overwhelming evidence

The affluent go further and use social engineering to ensure their offspring get the best education money can buy.

There is overwhelming evidence that average students can still excel if they go through good schools with an enriched curriculum, inspirational tutors and supportive parents.

But the success of this conveyor belt is under threat.

First, have we reformed the content in our education system to reflect the realities of modern times, from globalisation and the pervasiveness of technology to the Constitution and Vision 2030? Do we still see the phone and social media as threats to education or as tools to make learning easier?

For example, why do we confront Form Ones in Kenyan schools in the first term with a topic on early man, where they have to remember Cro-Magnon, Ramapithecus, Australopithecus and other pithecuses?

On Sunday, the hapless students are told of creation, while their grandparents tells them where their ethnic group came from. Why can’t we excite these young brains with a topic like the possibilities of modern technology?

The second threat to the success of the conveyor belt is a lack of fast economic growth, which has left many youngsters jobless. If there are no jobs, why be serious in school?

Teachers tell me that unlike in the past when the most motivated students were from poor backgrounds, it is the opposite now, it is now those from affluent homes. Noted how private schools outperform public schools? I highly suspect top-performing public schools have a disproportionate percentage of affluent parents.

Education islands

The third threat is the formation of education islands. Did you interact with any secondary school students when you were in primary school? Did you interact with any university students when you were in secondary?

Primary schools are islands, secondary schools are islands, as are universities. Yet the conveyor would be more effective if these three levels interacted more. The higher levels inspire the lower ones.

If lecturers and teachers interacted more, they would learn more about the issues students face and address them.

How often do neighbouring schools meet? How often does Alliance High School interact with Mai-Ihii Primary School? What of Mangu High School and Kuraiha Primary School? What of UoN and State House Girls or Nairobi Primary School? Some US universities allow bright high schoolers to take undergraduate classes ....

It seems that the higher you go, the further apart the islands drift. Public universities rarely interact, despite getting funded by the same government. This island mentality is inefficient and discourages the contest of ideas. The matter becomes worse when universities hire their own graduates to teach, leading to in-breeding and reinforcing the island mentality.

Most good universities in the West do not hire their graduates to avoid intellectual incest. Noted how going abroad (majuu) to study is no longer fashionable, partly because we want to remain in our islands.

The fourth threat is borrowed from the wider society — pursuit of shortcuts. Cheating has been cited as a common problem in our education system. Cheating reinforces the island mentality because cheaters know their inadequacies. They avoid situations where their ideas or thinking can be challenged, leading to isolation.

Tired ideas and inert ideas are often allowed to flourish. You can easily identify cheaters by the effort they put in defending tired ideas.

Obsession with titles

The fifth threat to the conveyor belt is the obsession with titles. Noted how Kenyans nowadays prefer to use more than one title, like Rev Dr? Our obsession with titles — some given by institutions of dubious distinction — rather than output, like research, new businesses, socio-economic transformation and inspiring the next generation, creates islands that rarely create any synergy.

The sixth threat is the existence of two islands: humanities, and science, technology and maths (Stem). Each of the islands believes it is the best, yet they are supposed to co-exist.

Joseph Rotman, a Canadian philanthropist, once said, “Science empowers us; the humanities teach us to use that power wisely.“

In Kenya, Stem has not received much attention. The phenomenal expansion in higher education has been in humanities.

The threat of two islands becomes more pronounced when it becomes evident that jobs are created by Stem. Without an emphasis on it, it is no wonder our graduates are tarmacking.

It also seems that having a humanities background is an asset in becoming a leader, but not necessarily in leading.

Economic blocs

Where do we go from here?

We need boats, tunnels or bridges to connect the several islands.

Incidentally, devolution is creating new islands, with counties rarely talking to each except to argue over borders. The formation of economic blocs among counties is an interesting development, and perhaps supports the observation that we need fewer counties and fewer islands.

We need more interaction among all the levels of education, humanities and Stem, with a focus on ethics and integrity early on in schools, and a constant renewal of the curriculum to ensure contemporary issues take the day.

Such boats will ensure education remains a conveyor belt that is regularly serviced to take students from one socio-economic class to a higher one.

The writer is senior lecturer, University of Nairobi.

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