Yes, get every child to school, but do it right

It is very encouraging that the government is transitioning all the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination candidates to secondary school.

Yes, we need every Kenyan educated up to secondary school at the very least.

The problem is the way the transition is offered.

According to the government, every child who sits for the KCPE exam will join Form One regardless of what the results indicate of each candidate. While I totally support the 100 per cent transition to secondary school, let us interrogate some of the assumptions at play in the way the blanket transition is being offered.

Providing infrastructure to accommodate the large number of pupils transitioning is a necessity. But that alone does not address some pertinent assumptions in the 100 per cent transition policy.

The policy should first respond to why, for example, in the 2019 KCPE exam results about 260,000 pupils scored below 200 marks out of 500.

The reasons would be many. They may include family problems, socialisation with peers, a weak foundation in lower primary, deviance, demotivated teachers and poor infrastructure.

Most of these, if not all, are not within the control of the child. For instance, a committed child cannot motivate a teacher frustrated by the system. Instead, the child becomes a victim of the teacher’s frustration.

Foundation programme

Granted, a number of the children who post low marks in KCPE exam often perform very well in secondary school exams. Some even outshine those who score high grades. Nevertheless, it does not follow that a 100 per cent transition policy will improve the learning of weak children.

The government needs to develop a programme that lays a foundation for weak children to perform better in secondary school. 

Shoving every child to secondary school merely balloons numbers and gives the impression that the government is committed to universal education. It does not concern itself with formation of character of the children as they transit.

A child with a low mark needs support to understand himself or herself better and build resilience. The child needs to be re-motivated to learn and a score a higher mark. The mark should not be achieved in competition with those who perform well but to reflect to the child that a higher mark means better understanding, internationalisation and utilisation of the knowledge gained now or in the future.

The child needs someone to actively provide intrinsic motivation to learn. For some of the weak children, it could be that they need counselling. Others need more motivated teachers to reassure them that anyone can learn and pass in any subject.

For others, it involves helping them learn their talents and gifts. Some children perform very well in extra-curricular activities but poorly in class. They need support to see and learn the importance of integrating the two worlds.

Others are very creative so tend to do very well in visualised studies but critical thinking becomes painful. They need time to understand that cognitive learning is equally important in their lives.

Transiting these weak children to secondary school without any support mechanism is passing the burden to secondary school teachers. It is highly unlikely that a teacher will turn into a counsellor or tutor for a weak student to remedy deficiencies carried up from primary school.

As it were, teachers are expected to 'cover the syllabus' because that is what matters to the inspectorate and, unfortunately, to the parents.

To support weak children to acquire the right social values, inspire them to greater heights in education, teach them to aim higher in all they do and grow a positive self-esteem, the government should create a transition period.

This period should have a gracious name like 'Green Pass'. Children should see it as a period of recouping what they missed rather than a period for poor performers to reboot. 

Low marks do not in any way mean the child is incapable of passing future exams. It means the government, in collaboration with all stakeholders, particularly parents and teachers, have a responsibility to offer special attention to the future of such children.

Transiting them to secondary school without remedying the deficiencies that lead to low marks is not helpful to the child, parent or government.

A good education is not just passing through classes from primary to secondary school. It is also about imparting values and modelling children into responsible citizens.

Dr Mokua is a lecturer in media and communication studies