Biology performance dips, jeopardising medicine programmes

For three consecutive years, performance in the subject has been on a downward trend with only a small number getting grade B and above. The trend is raising concerns that many bright students will be locked out of studying medical courses.

Anne Muthoni was expecting at least a B in Biology to pursue medicine. Her dream however came tumbling down when she performed poorly in the subject, scoring a D+.

Muthoni, whose overall score was a B plain at Mayori Secondary School in Embu, blames her poor grade on two biology papers she says were challenging.

“Biology Paper 1 was very hard. The questions were tricky and required one to think beyond things they learnt in class. They were mostly application questions. In fact, the only thing I found easy to handle in that biology (paper) was the practical examination,” says Muthoni.

With her chances of pursuing a medicine-related course now slim, Muthoni is weighing other options including financial accounting. She is not alone.

For the past three years, performance in biology has been on a downward trend, raising fears that many students continue to be locked out of courses that require decent grades in the subject, especially medicine courses.

Only one per cent of 2018 KCSE candidates scored A in biology

In 2016, only 18 per cent of all students who sat KCSE managed grade C and above. One per cent scored grade A. In 2017, performance plunged even further with allegations that that only ten students managed A’s in biology.

Though the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) last year did not release performance in individual subjects, an official at the examinations body revealed that students performed poorly in biology.

According to Knec CEO Prof George Magoha, even leading schools in the country last year did not register many top grades in biology.

“Strathmore, which was our best school in the country, only had three A’s in biology,” said Mr Magoha, who did not disclose the number of students who scored the top grade in biology in the whole country.

He said analysing numbers of performance in individual subjects was one of the problems that faced learning in schools.

“We don’t release numbers because that is what people concentrate on when examinations are released instead of focusing on learning and teaching,” he said.

But as the examiners body works to reform the examinations scene, questions have been raised as to how a student can score A’s and B’s in all subjects but manage a measly D+ in biology.

Last month, for instance, complaints arose on Kuppet Teachers Kenya - a Facebook page for teachers - who found the low performance in biology alarming.

“Assume this is your daughter with A- in English, a B+ in Kiswahili, an A in mathematics, A- in physics, A- in Chemistry, and an A in Geography, an A- in Business Studies then scores a D+ in Biology. The student was the best in biology and is still among the best even with the D+. Now, what exactly caused this D+?” Jay Moss poses on the teachers’ platform.

Jay claimed that the student scored top grades in all subjects, but scored lowly in biology and sought to know the prevalence of this oddity elsewhere.

“Does performance in biology in your school match the other subjects or is this an isolated student’s case? Is biology this difficult really or is there a disconnect somewhere?” he posed.

There are those who felt that the student didn’t deserve the low grade in biology.

“Biology failures are to a great degree induced. How can most students who pass in chemistry and physics fail in biology? This is not a student failure but a system failure,” wrote Kinyua Githinji.

But others said teachers were to blame for the dismal performance.

 “When teaching, you need to elaborate to the learners what Knec requires of them. Biology is one of the subjects that requires a teacher’s guidance and attention. Check and read the Knec report about the subject,” said Kisame Edger.

Kenneth* who sat KCSE at Machakos Boys High School last year scoring B+ says he always wanted to pursue dentistry. But a C plain in biology on his transcripts not only brought down his overall performance but also dimmed his dream of pursuing the medical course.

“I have always wanted to be a dentist. But now I have to look at other options and I may end up in statistics and economics,” says Kenneth, who prefers to remain anonymous.

With one A in biology, Starehe Girls Centre was third best nationally in the subject, says Mrs Rose Mukunya, the school’s deputy principal.

Mrs Mukunya, who also heads the school’s biology department, says performance in the school has been dwindling for the past three years. In the past, Starehe Girls Centre has registered up to a mean of ten in biology, she says.

But in the last three years, it dropped to nine, 6.4 and 7.3. Even then, the school performed better than many other schools that barely registered a mean of six in the subject..

“Biology is life and is not supposed to be a difficult subject. Being a technical subject, however, students fail when they are unable to apply technical terms in answering the questions,” she says.

Technical testing to blame

Mrs Mukunya blames the dwindling performance in biology to the technical nature of the subject as well as the changing approach of testing.

“At Starehe, we train students on the use of technical terms when tackling biology questions and this has been working for us. But again, the mode of testing has been changing over the years and most institutions are yet to grasp the changes. Testing has become application-based and goes beyond the learners’ scope,” says Mukunya.

Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union Secretary General Dr Ouma Oluga finds the low performance in biology baffling.

“It is hard to understand where the culture of awarding low marks in biology emanates from. There is no way a whole society can find one particular one subject difficult,” says Dr Oluga.

He said the trend is bound to have a negative impact on the medical field.

“In the recent past, I have been approached by young people who said they had a passion for healthcare and medicine courses, but were locked out because of their poor grades in biology,” he says.

According to the medics union’s boss, failing students interested in medicine doesn’t just end at secondary school.

“It is not just in high school that students are failing. These days, students who choose science courses are failed even in college. Most of them get frustrated because of the low grades and drop out of the course. This is demoralising. It is like telling the students they don’t know anything,” says Oluga.

He adds that failing in school isn’t entirely the problem of the student.

“Based on personal account, there are no geniuses in any field. Not even medicine. At some point, I was at the bottom in our class. I performed very poorly, especially in some science subjects, but with the right mentorship I rose to pursue a medical course,” he says.

Oluga adds: “Biology has never been a difficult subject. We only need to interrogate what the students are taught and how they are taught.”

Cheating claims

But Magoha argues it is time parents started interrogating their children on what happens during exams.

“Last year, we nabbed a top government official who was trying to sneak a biology paper to her daughter. But it was a fake biology paper that had been crafted from a general science examination, which had been done before. Parents should ask themselves what could have happened if the girl got the fake paper,” poses Prof Magoha.

“The girl could have, undoubtedly, spent her the whole revision time mastering fake answers only to find something else in the exam room. She then would have failed terribly. But since we didn’t allow the fake paper to reach her, the girl managed a B+ in biology,” says Magoha.

He says that exam regulations these days are tough and those predisposed to cheating are punished.

“Exams these days are set and moderated by a large college of scholars; not like before where there was a lot of influence from different parties,” says Magoha.

He says there is no point in admitting students in medical courses only for them to drop out of the courses along the way.

“Six years ago when I was still vice chancellor at a university, I remember some 500 students enrolled for medical courses. When I went there for graduation of this class, I found out that only half of the total number who had enrolled were graduating. The other half had dropped out of the course. That could only point to the fact that they got marks they didn’t deserve in high school,” says Prof Magoha.

According to the Knec boss, there is a likelihood that performance in biology will not improve instantly.

“The class we have at the moment is just like the previous ones. There is an inherent problem that we are trying to weed out right from primary school and I assure you that some three cohorts or so from now, Kenyans will see the change in performance,” says Magoha.

Reactions from Kuppet Teachers Facebook page

Mburu Alfred: Someone must stop the Ministry of Education and Knec from destroying the lives of these youngsters under the guise of spartan type exams. Do the math. Over 1.5 million children have done KCSE in the last three years. Where are they?

Kisame Edger: When teaching, you need to elaborate to the learners what Knec requires of them. Biology is one of the subjects that requires a teacher’s guidance and attention. Check and read Knec report about the subject.

Mwenda: There are concerns that before stringent measures to curb cheating were put in place, teachers in practical subjects like agriculture and biology would aide students’ performance during practicals.

Elsie Tote: The specimen they used in their examinations was rotten. The questions were way above their level. A candidate asked me after the practical “teacher, kwani madaktari walitosha Kenya?” I believe they felt the exam was set for them to fail.

Cyrus Wairagu Maina: Biology is a challenging science that is mostly taken for granted. Talk to experienced biology teachers. It’s also used to determine those capable of pursuing medicine, pharmacy and dental surgery.

David Munene: In the next couple of years, there will be a shortage in biology teachers if TSC maintains the C+ requirement.

“Many candidates have been locked out of medical related courses because of their dismal performance in biology. The biology teachers should, therefore, change their tactics. If it is poor mastery of content then let them wake up because we need the students to get at least C+ to qualify for medical courses,” wrote Calvince Oniala.

Omboga Junior: Biology is perceived by many as simple, compared to other sciences, but the fact is it’s a technical subject that requires a lot of attention and thoroughness if one has to attain a good grade. It’s also worth to note that there is a totally different setting trend from 2016 that calls maximum mastery of content to handle the kind of questions presented. Unless this is done we are headed for a serious crisis.

Auma Kristine Ochieng: Unfortunately, Knec is fast killing the practical paper of biology. It’s not about substituting the sciences, but about career placements. I believe we’ll have less than 100 doctors two years from now. Too bad!

Matthew Kilonzo: The Knec has killed biology subject. Biology is practical subject but now converting Paper 3 to purely theory is making biology a theoretical subject. No wonder they are failing because of doing 3 theory papers. Just the way agriculture practical was phased out, I can see biology paper 3 being watered down.

Paul Kinyanjui: Biology should be taught from well-equipped labs. Schools should invest heavily in models and charts, amongs other resources.