In John 2:
13-16, the Bible records Jesus’ visit to the temple in Jerusalem. He found livestock
and poultry traders, and moneychangers doing business. Jesus made a whip of
cords and drove them all out of the temple. He ejected t moneychangers and
overturned tables. “Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise”,
Jesus said to them.
Kenya’s
education, especially the examination process, has been a shameful temple of merchandise
for nearly three decades. Top ten slots were for sale to the highest bidder. A thick
and well-oiled cartel traded in examination papers, influenced grading and
scoring of scripts and had the last word on school rankings. Parents could
negotiate grades directly with officials at the Kenya National Examination
Council (KNEC).
Elite
private primary school, also known as academies, thrived. They charged high
fees and invested hugely in cheating, paying for ranking and using multiple
registration centres to guarantee high mean scores. Similarly, elite public
secondary schools, also known as national schools, used their high enrollment
numbers and financial advantage to purchase examination materials and influence
test scores and ranking.
High
school principles are minor deities; officials at Jogoo House and KNEC worship
have them on speed dial and worship the ground they walk on. Education in this
country almost ceased to be about teaching and learning and preparing the next
generation of citizens. Education had become a house of exchange of just three
things; money, grades and rankings. Students became pawns in the game. Grades
and ranking become something like dope, to which schools, parents and students
got hooked to.
Successive
education ministers and top officials at Jogoo House were inducted into the
immoral orgy and baptized in oodles of bribe cash. These individuals were eaten
up by zeal for loot. But not the current Education Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiangi. CS Matiangi is consumed
by zeal for our children and the credibility of our education system.
Under CS Matiangi’s indomitable, and I dare
say abrasive and egotistical, resolve confidence is beginning to return to Kenya’s
education system and especially, KNEC. Stringent management and administration
of KCPE has paid off hugely. CS Matiangi is the man of the moment. He is
Kenya’s knight in shining armor.
At a time when our country is staggered by
the gales of grand corruption, what CS Matiangi has achieved in the department
of education must give us hope. CS Matiangi gives us hope that we can vanquish
the evil forces of corruption at work in our society. He gives us hope that
Kenya’s education sector will not be a house of merchandise.
CS Matiangi could have chosen the gravy path
like his predecessors; taken the loot and looked the other way as our education
system goes to the dogs. CS Matiangi gives us hope that there are Kenyans who are
willing to risk everything, resist the charm of sleaze and put Kenya first. Can
his cabinet colleagues emulate his example?
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