There is a bright star in every child, so let’s celebrate all KCSE candidates

This year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results are finally out. Educaion Cabinet Secretary George Magoha announced that this was one of the cleanest national exams, with the least reported cases of cheating. This suggests that reforms undertaken at the Kenya National Examination Council in 2015 to root out exam malpractices are working.

Most encouraging is the news that some of the candidates who failed in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination five years ago posted impressive grades.

For example, Kinywa Milka Wanjiru scored 179 marks in KCPE examination and went on to post a B- in KCSE.

Wanjiru and others like her proved that no human child is limited; that given the opportunity, all Kenyan children have the potential to succeed.

They have proved that the 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school should not be an option, but an imperative.

Wanjiru should also be an inspiration for thousands of 2019 KCSE candidates out there who might feel discouraged by the grades they attained.

If she managed to convert a near E grade at KCPE to a B minus at KCSE, then all the candidates who sat this year’s national examinations have an equal opportunity to shine in the next stages of their lives. This should also serve as a valuable lesson to the top candidates and schools; that they should be humble in their success and respect everyone who sat the examination with them, knowing that more examinations lie ahead.

In the past, supporters of a ban on exit examinations have argued that they do not necessarily help top candidates make it to the next level, and that if not well handled, they inflict lifelong scars on thousands of candidates who do not.

We must institute a follow-up mechanism to ensure each and every candidate who sat this year’s KCSE exam gets a chance to achieve their full potential, and that no single brain goes to waste.

We must also ensure that the bulk of candidates who sat the exams but did not make the cut for university or tertiary colleges do not despair. These young people require support to fulfil their potential beyond the exam cycle.

It is encouraging that the government has finally rolled out the Competency-Based Curriculum that is expected to focus more on a student’s overall potential as opposed to examination grades.

We hope this will mark the end to the general wastage of brains and talent that associated with the current education system.

As a nation, we must all look forward to the day a student’s future will not be pegged on a single exit examination, but on their overall development as individuals with multiple abilities.