By Laban Ayiro
The current public discourse on education in Kenya is healthy. The global "knowledge economy" demands marketable skills that our schools, institutes of technology and universities must adequately provide.
It is because of this focus that the Task Force Report on Education is turning out to be a disappointment.
To jump to obvious and populist recommendations such as re-structuring the education system without concrete evidence would plunge the country into more inefficient and unaffordable system. When they propose to change the structure for greater flexibility, for example, where is the evidence that 8-4-4 was not flexible? What is the scientific evidence that the 2-6-3-3-3 will not present the same encumbrances? The new system seems to have even more examinable levels. Does that reflect enhanced flexibility?
Any reforms in education should be linked to vision 2030 and not just the Constitution. Kenya is seeking to be an industrialized country driven by technology and the education system should lead us to that.
Great impact
The Task Force should, therefore, have targeted areas of greatest impact such Technical, Vocation Education and Training (Tivet) programmes. The future of Kenya lies in technology yet the team’s proposals show Tivet would have the least funding.
Innovation would not be realized if practical skills are not incorporated. We need to make polytechniques and universities productive sites for craftsmanship. Our university engineering and science students do not have serious regard for the way things get made.
Instead, they see themselves as designers divorced from the dirty work of making. We have this notion that Kenya would be an all ‘idea’ country! Thinking that you can dream something without really understanding what it takes to make it flies in the face of reality.
We need enough technicians to become a net exporter of technical personnel.
Tivet is the crucible for economic transformation and requires priority in funding. The taskforce had the mindset of the last century in this regard.
In Germany, 97 per cent of students graduate from high school, but only a third go to university. In Kenya, we graduate fewer students and yet we want the majority to go to university.
So are German students poorly educated? No.
Instead of university, German students enter training and apprenticeship programmes and some begin in high school. They have better practical education than locals and have an easier time entering the work force.
Other opportunities
Similarly, in Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, between 40 to 70 per cent of students opt for an educational program that combines classroom and workplace learning.
In Kenya, "vocational" programs are often thought of as programmes for at-risk students from disadvantaged backgrounds. What a mind-set!
Elites frown upon apprenticeship programmes because they think university is the way to create a "well-rounded citizenry." Is someone who can only quote Ngugi wa Thiong'o well rounded? Only if they can also maintain a motorcycle or even cook ugali!
Well-roundedness comes not from sitting in a classroom but from experiencing the world. The focus on university education has distracted government and students from apprenticeship opportunities.
Our obsession with university education has blinded us. It matters what subjects students study and the government should focus on what matters most to the country. Going to university is neither necessary nor sufficient to be well educated. Apprentices in Europe are well educated but not university schooled.
Over to the Task Force!
The writer is a Fulbright Scholar, Texas A&M University.
