When parents rig to get their children into the ‘right’ schools

Shot of a young female student sitting on the floor feeling depressed outside on campus. [Photo, File]

If you have been following the news, you might be familiar with a certain scandal presently unfolding in the US with the FBI referring to it as the Varsity Blues. What has happened is that some famous people who include TV stars, coaches and exam proctors used bribes and loopholes to get their children into Ivy Leagues. It is amusing to hear what these people did, some doctored SAT scores, others deployed Photoshop to create fake incidences of their children’s involvement in sports all because they want to win the award of “parent to a child in right school.”

Felicity Huffman, she of the Desperate Housewives fame has been accused of conspiring to pay $15,000 (Sh1.5 million) to an organisation that facilitated cheating on her older daughter’s SATs. The organisation is said to have arranged for a proctor to college the daughter’s answers in hopes of getting into a better college. Felicity and her buddies are not alone – they should know we in Kenya have been rigging outcomes for long. We not only rig elections, we also rig our children’s results to ensure they get into what we think are the ‘right’ schools or courses. During my schooling days, I recall a few students who found their way into our school through what we called the back door.