Of
the 880,486 children who sat KCPE last year 445,981 scored below the average
grade. The school system and our society instantly label these children as
failures. We wonder if they will ever make anything of their lives.
These
children remind me of Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison and countless number of
brilliant and creative individuals who were written off by teachers and the
school system. In my view, the hundreds of thousands of children who deemed to
have failed on account of a grade associated with their name are victims of the
education system. They are not failures. The education system has failed them.
The
hundreds of thousands of young people who are failed by our antiquated exam-centric
education system struggle to hold on to a sense of self-esteem and purpose in
life. Sadly, many give up. The children who fail KCPE are not stupid or lazy.
They just can’t cope with an outdated system of education.
Sometimes
I am tempted to believe that the hundreds of thousands of children who fail
KCPE and KSCE are really the true genius. A majority of the children who pass
the national standardized tests prove one thing; they are great at taking a
test. They are not necessarily capable of thinking or analytical reasoning. Our
schools have become miserable grade factories.
Our
education system is antiquated and out of step with what we know about how
learning occurs. Our curriculum should
cultivate love for learning and discovery, a sense of playful curiosity and
creativity. In the 21st century, and especially with the ICT
revolution, content heavy, teacher-dominated and exam-centric models of
education are arrogant, limited and irrelevant.
Our
education system is antiquated because our children, digital natives, sit in
classrooms, where a syllabus, standardized test and the teacher dictate what
they learn and how they learn. Our education system does not resonate with the
way children think and learn.
Our
school system does not get it. The era of educating unthinking obedient natives
for a colonial administration is over. Our country needs innovators and
entrepreneurs, not just a handful or a few hundreds but in the millions. One or
two technology hubs are not sufficient to drive the scale of change that we
need. We need to prepare the next generation of ethical public servants,
journalists, businessmen, industrialist and philanthropist.
Moreover,
we need to nurture our nascent democracy and build a united nation for all,
rising above the petty ethnic nationalities constructed in the image the
current crop of politicians. A vibrant and functional democracy demands that
citizens can think for themselves, evaluate political manifestos and see beyond
hollow political rhetoric.
Given
the scale of the challenges we face today; declining agricultural productivity,
rapid urbanization, climate change, unemployment and ethnic division, we do not
need an education system that prepares reliable employees. What we need is an
education system that prepares creative thinkers and problem-solvers.
The
21st century globalized knowledge economy demands more than a heap
of examination certificates and proficiency grades. To navigate and thrive in a
turbulent 21st century world school must cultivate the habits of
mind that enable students to think, to be analytical, collaborative, curious,
imaginative, innovative, creative and to cope with uncertainty. We must
appreciate the fact that as educators we are preparing children for an unknown
future. Thirty years ago not a single professor or teacher could imagine
students working in IT. The point is that we are preparing students for jobs
that do not exist. Students must leave school or university not elated or
depressed with their grades but as inspired lifelong learners.
As
educators we must be mindful that much of the so-called knowledge we impart to
students will certainly be outdated or irrelevant at the time they begin their
careers. The best we can do is to provide than with a capacity to think and the
ability to learn, unlearn and re-learn. The education system we inherited from
the colonialist has served as well. But it is deficient as a guiding light for
navigating the complex and unique challenges of a globalized knowledge economy.
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