Poor grasp of primary English affects students performance in senior school

Nominated Senator Esther Okenyuri distributes textbooks and pens to Masakwe Secondary School students in Kitutu Chache North, Kisii County. She urged them to embrace the culture of reading books.[Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Teacher Amos taught English and Literature in one secondary school. He noted that every new form one class had some learners who were timid to a fault. They hardly talked in English and when they did, they generously dropped Kiswahili words in their sentences.

Over the years, Amos would painstakingly take them through introductory lessons of the secondary English curriculum while at the same time correcting apparent gaps that ought to have been addressed in primary school. Mostly, the learners  knew their way around grammar and comprehension and their core problem was largely lack of confidence especially in the presence of their classmates from private academies who would speak fluent English. As a facilitator in many English workshops, Amos would awe everybody with his uncanny insights on the challenges and remedies for teaching the language in senior school. Needless to say, he was spotted by publishers and contracted to develop textbooks.